


Daughter of Iron

by CayCharming



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Female Character, F/F, F/M, Family Angst, Family Fluff, Father-Daughter Relationship, Iron Man 1, Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase One Compliant, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Swearing, dad tony stark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-13
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2019-03-17 17:34:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 31,513
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13663914
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CayCharming/pseuds/CayCharming
Summary: Tony Stark has a daughter. Sounds like a million fanfics you read when you were a teenager? Well, here's one more for you. Only this one is written by an adult who's nostalgic and can't let old stories go.Angel Stark is 18 years old when her life is changed forever. Her first ever weapons presentation with her dad should have been a happy thing but...not everything goes as planned.





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Where to begin? I've always been a bit nervous to post this fic on here. Mainly, because I was worried that fics where a canon character has an original character relative (of any kind) seemed childish. But, it's 2018 and I think I owe it to my 2012 self to actually finish this fic once and for all. This fic and this character is something that has always stuck with me. I never truly forgot this fic even when I did stop writing it. It's always been something I've wanted to finish and this year I'm going to do it (she said hopefully). So yes, I hope you enjoy reading about Angel and her journey.

This is the story of how Angel Joan Stark came into the world.

17-year-old Tony Stark had graduated early from MIT and was simply looking for a good time with some pretty girls in Paris. He did have a good time for a day or two, but his life changed when he saw Joan Radaka. She was a Bulgarian 17-year-old stunning model walking down the runway as if she walked on air.

He fell hard and fast for her.

Tony had to win Joan over. Prove he was actually capable of commitment despite how public his love life had been at the time.

After some trial and error, they both fell in love with each other in Paris.

Joan went back to California with him. Not only because she was in love with Tony but because she saw huge possibilities there. She was already well known in the modelling world but she became a must-have when she moved.

Her career was booming when she was eighteen. Partly because she came with a beautiful soul along with a beautiful everything else. Being attached to Tony helped a bit as well.

Joan's face was everywhere. On billboards, commercials for the most extravagant perfume, stores and tv. You could not go a day without seeing her face on something somewhere.

Tony and Joan went everywhere together when they could. If there was some red carpet event, or award show, or fancy dinner...you could bet Joan would be on Tony's arm.

They loved each other with every ounce of life they had in them.

They changed each other for the better and Tony would always be grateful for the day he decided to go to Paris.

But of course, no one's life is completely perfect and not everything goes as planned.

You see, Tony’s life plan was simple and easy to follow. Become CEO of Stark Industries, propose to Joan when he was around 21 (that way they could marry on their 5th anniversary in Paris), and have kids if he ever learned how to take care of himself.

Joan had plans as well, the first being is that she wanted to start her own modelling agency. She wanted to hire models that most would turn away. She was tired of all the discrimination in the modelling world and she wanted to change it. She wanted to marry Tony somewhere down the line and even further down the line was having children.

Yet, their plans were thrown for a loop.

The peak of Joan's career was when she was 18. This also happened to be around the time Tony's proper training to be a CEO began.

They took a mini vacation to New York in November to try to relieve some stress. On one of these rainy days, Joan realized she was pregnant.

At first, being only eighteen-year-olds, they thought their life was over. They thought their families were going to kill them and they were sure their publicists were going to murder them in creative ways.

They both had deep fears. Joan thought her career as a model was over because there wasn’t exactly a crying need for pregnant models.

Tony knew the public was going to ride his ass hard for knocking up his girlfriend. They would think he was even more irresponsible than they already did. His public image was going to be in the gutter.

But Tony, and Joan, being the stubborn, determined people they were, decided their life was not over. They decided this was a good thing - a great thing even. A baby wasn't going to ruin their life, only make it a bit harder. Tony believed that nothing that was worth it was ever easy. They loved each other more the anything and a baby was only going to be proof of it.

Of course, no one else was happy about the pregnancy at first. Tony's father had even tried to talk them into an abortion. It was something they had considered but decided wasn’t for them. They wanted this baby. They wanted to be a family. Yes, they were young...but this was not a mistake.

They didn't care about anyone's opinion. They knew what they wanted, they knew what made them happy and nothing else mattered.

Tony proposed to Joan not long after. Not because it was expected of him by society...but because he loved Joan and couldn’t imagine living a day without her.

She said yes.

To Joan’s relief, she still got modelling jobs when she was obviously pregnant. She did photo shoots for maternity clothes, did a few fashion shows - was even on the cover of a few pregnancy related magazines and was already writing a book about her journey as a young mother.

The press was even taking everything pretty well. Of course, there were always more than a handful of people who hated them but they could handle it.

To Tony's surprise, the public had looked at him highly for once. In their eyes, he was showing more responsibility than they thought he was capable of. What the public would never understand is how much Tony loved Joan.

Everything was going well. Joan's parents weren't even angry after some time. Eventually, Tony's parents got over it and were excited about the baby's arrival.

Maria, Tony's mother, couldn't wait to see her grandchild. To Tony, it seemed like his father only cared about having another heir to Stark Industries. Someone who could take over if Tony did something stupid...Tony was determined to make sure their child was more loved than he ever felt.

Everything was looking great.

Tony and Joan were thrilled to hear they were going to have a little girl. They picked the name after months of arguing about it.

Angel.

They were naming her that because 'Angel' was the Aerosmith song Joan and Tony heard when they first met.

The middle name was Janis. Joan loved Janis Joplin and wanted that to be the middle name, Tony had no complaints.

Everything was a lot better than they ever thought it could be.

Yes, Tony worried he'd be the worst father in the world because of the way his father had treated him as a child (and as grown man). Yet, Joan promised him that he was going to be a great father and if he ever did anything that reminded her of his father, she'd stop it.

The future was bright...that is until it wasn't.

Joan went into labour early in the summer. It caused severe medical problems for her and her child. At first, Joan seemed fine. She cried tears of joy right along with Tony once they were assured their little one was fine despite her small size. Angel was born premature, very small, her body organs and bones were not fully developed yet but she would live.

Thankfully, the nurse who was about to take their angel to the incubator held her right in front of Joan..

She managed to speak Angel's name before she began haemorrhaging.

The loss of blood weakened her, caused her heart rate to come to uneasy rhythm and she slipped into unconsciousness.

Tony was frantic and sent out of the room as they tried to revive the only person who he had ever truly loved.

Two whole days of doctors trying to keep Joan alive passed and still she died at the heartbreaking age of 19.

Tony was never the same after that. No one had ever seen him so heartbroken. Even his father tried to comfort him, but it was impossible. Not by his friends, or his parents, only his little daughter who was the only thing left of Joan.

She had Joan's tawny colored skin and she somehow even had her crystal blue eyes. She was already bittersweet reminder of what he had lost.

Being around Angel was the only thing that made him feel like Joan was with him. This was their little girl. They had created her. A part of Joan lived in her and Tony vowed to love their child enough for the both of them. He would give her the world and more. He would spoil her rotten. He would tell his baby he loved her every day, unlike his father who never spoke the words to him. He was going to try to be the best father in the world, for Joan and his baby girl.

Tony changed Angel's middle name from Janis to Joan, in honour of her late mother.

He had to fight Joan's parents for the right to keep her. He won.

Tony's parents died in a car crash only a year after he lost Joan.

He became CEO of Stark Industries a year later at the age of 21, bringing his daughter to work with him as much as he could.


	2. Difficult Little Devil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who doesn't show up for their own award ceremony? Angel's father, of course.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters are a bit longer than they probably should so forgive me if I happen to miss a spelling error or two. Also, I feel like this is Angel at her starting point. She's young and not fully developed as a character just yet.

Angel Joan Stark, 17 (almost 18 years old if you want to be technical), heiress, MIT graduate and future CEO of Stark Industries. She's been on the cover of every type magazine. Raging from Vogue to National Geographic (there was also quite a few teen magazines she wanted to forget). She considers herself to be as smart as her dad. On good days she considered herself to be smarter. She was the youngest graduated MIT had ever had, beating Tony by a year. She's a fashion icon, a role model for a lot of kids and desired by more people than she wanted to think about. 

The public usually preferred her over her dad which she understood but didn’t appreciate how easily people spoke of their dislike of Tony.

Like her father, she was snarky, smart, sarcastic and confident. Though she grew up with a few her mother’s traits as well. Considerate, kind and beautiful. That was why when she was smart ass, people thought it was funny and cute; when her dad did it they thought he was an ass. She couldn't blame them; they didn't understand her father like she did.

But even she was having trouble not being angry with her dad right now. He was supposed to be here to accept his award.

Angel was at Caesars Palace where the Apogee Award Ceremony was being held in a very lavish ballroom. She was dressed in a long, tight, red, strapless dress.

It was stunning with ruffles at the bottom, the only downside was that it was a bitch to try to move in. Even in the dim light, the diamond necklace around her neck glimmered. It had been a gift from her ex. She was no longer with that guy simply because he bored her. Similar to her dad, it was hard to keep her attention and usually, she couldn’t click with people. 

Her dark brown hair was down and curled only a little tonight. It had taken her and her stylist three hours to look the way she looked right now. It would have been worth if her dad bothered to show up.

Angel felt stupid for thinking he would show. She thought for once her dad would care about something like this. He never cared about anything when it came to work. The only thing he seemed to give a damn about was her. Other than that, all he cared about was having a good time.

Angel sighed, now she would have to get up on the stage with Obadiah and accept it on her dad’s behalf.

“Dammit,” she thought.

She didn't mind talking in front of a crowd at all, it was something she was used to by the time she was 5. It just pissed her off because her father should be doing it.

The montage on her father's life was rolling on all of the screens. Currently talking about how the loss of her mother only made Tony determined to be a great father and a fantastic CEO.

Under the table, Angel’s phone buzzed in her hand and she looked at the message her dad had sent.

"I am where you think I am."

She cursed inwardly knowing that meant he was not going to show.

"What's the word?" Obadiah whispered to her from his seat.

She shot him an apologetic look.

"He answered my questions with vague replies. That tells me he has no plans on coming." Angel muttered.

Her dad would do anything, buy anything, and be anything for her. She just didn't like how she seemed to be all he actually cared about (aside from Pepper, Obie and Rhodey). Everything else her father did was on his own terms. He was a wild card. You couldn't rely on him for situations like this. You simply had to hope he felt like showing up.

Today, he clearly didn't.

"As liaison Stark Industry, I've had the unique privilege in serving with a real patriot." Rhodey said and Angel's heart sank.

He was saying such sweet things about her dad and he wasn't even here to hear it.

“I'm going to kick ass later,” she thought. Which really meant she would lecture him.

Rhodey (someone she considered to be her uncle), stood at the podium, in his uniform, spotlight on him and speaking to this room full of business moguls.

"He is my friend, and he is my great mentor," Rhodey said with pure honesty.

"Damn it, Dad." Angel hissed under her breath.

Rhodey was only doing this because she had told him that Tony would be honored.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honor to present this year's Apogee Award to Tony Stark!"

The room erupted into applause.

Angel looked around, hoping that her dad would make an unexpected dramatic entrance.

He didn't.

When Angel looked back at the stage she could see that Rhodey had the award in his hand and looked mildly confused.

"Tony?" He called into the microphone looking through the crowd.

His eyes met Obadiah and Angel's table where they set with the board of Stark Industries. An empty seat was to Angel's left and she mouthed the words, 'I'm so sorry,' when Rhodey looked at her.

Obadiah just shrugged, even more used to this than Angel which was saying something.

"Come on, Angel." Obadiah said in a sigh and stood.

Angel stood and locked his extended arm with hers.

Obadiah was like her grandfather, she had known him since she was a baby and he treated her like she was his granddaughter. She was completely comfortable around him.

She put on her biggest and best smile as they walked onto the stage. Once they were there, she unlocked her arm from his and walked toward Rhodey.

"Thank you, Colonel!" Obadiah said loudly as Angel gave her uncle Rhodey an apologetic smile.

"I am so sorry Dad left you hanging like this." She said in a whisper while giving him a hug.

The clapping died down as Obadiah thanked the crowd.

"It's alright, thanks for coming up here to accept it." He muttered once she pulled away.

She took the award from him and began listening to what Obadiah was saying. He had said something that made the crowd laugh but she knew it most likely wasn't that funny. 

"I am not but I have the next best thing, his daughter." He gestured for Angel to approach the podium and she did it with a billion-dollar smile on her face.

It was forced but no one could tell. She was in truth pissed with her dad for not being here but she had experience with faking smiles.

"Hi, everybody! Well...This is not the first time I have had to accept an award for my dad." She said with a laugh and the crowd laughed as well.

"I know my dad wishes he could be here." 

Angel was an amazing liar; it was trick she had picked up from watching Tony all of her life.

"If he was, I know he would ramble on about how on honored he felt."

The crowd laughed when she talked about Tony rambling. He was almost known for talking a bit too fast and jumping subject topic in mid-sentence.

"But seriously, he would thank everyone for this amazing award. I want to thank you on his behalf; because it truly is an honor."

That wasn't a lie. She knew Tony was honored by this award in his own way. He would thank all these people but he would probably insult some by accident as well.

"Obadiah, would you like to say anything?" Angel asked and he nodded simply and she stepped away from the podium and back to Rhodey.

"Like Angel said, Tony wishes he could be here, but you know, the best thing about Tony is also the worst thing...he's always working."

Obadiah and Angel thanked the crowd again and the ceremony ended.

She, Obadiah, and Rhodey all stood together by their table as people made their way for the exit doors.

"I really am sorry, Uncle Rhodey. I thought he would show." Angel said for the millionth time.

"It's fine, I'm used to it, I'm just sorry you two came for nothing." Rhodey said.

"Don't worry about it, I had a good time, the wine was excellent." Obadiah promised him.

"And I didn't mind coming either, it's not too often I get to come to Vegas." Angel affirmed.

She didn't mind coming, she did mind getting dressed up for nothing because it was something she enjoyed. However, if she knew her dad wasn't coming she would have worn something more comfortable.

"I'm going to head on home." Obadiah sighed and then he put his hand on Angel's shoulder. "Sweetheart, you will be sure your dad makes it tomorrow, right?"

She nodded.

"I promise, we'll make it. Even if I have to drag his ass there." Angel assured him and he chuckled.

"Good girl. I'll see you later." He said and gave her a quick hug.

"Bye." She told him when he pulled away and made his way to the exit.

"Here, Rhodey. I want you to give the award to him. Maybe he'll feel more guilty about it." She grimaced and handed the award to him.

"It's not in your father's DNA to feel guilty." He laughed and Angel smiled a bit more.

"Want me to walk you to your limo?" He asked her.

"Sure." She told him and they left while talking about possible reasons Tony decided not to come.

By the time they got to the lobby, they heard a crowd of people saying Tony Stark was gambling in the casino.

Angel didn't deal with anger particularly well. Deep down, she knew she should have gone home. Ignored her dad’s antics to show her disapproval and talked about it with him in the morning.

She couldn't do that.

Once Angel was properly angry, it was a feeling she couldn't ignore and had to express it. 

Angel began heading to the casino with Rhodey right behind her who was trying to tell her she wouldn't be able to get in due to her age. 

She was so focused on her anger that she didn't even hear him.

Angel did, in fact, get stopped by security. No matter how much she swore she wouldn't gamble or drink they wouldn't let her in. It took Rhodey mentioning he was in the air force and would keep a close eye on Angel to convince security to let her in.

Angel took off faster than someone in high heels should be able to go. She was walking much faster than Rhodey simply because she was angrier. Rhodey was far behind her once she spotted a crowd of people surrounding the Craps table.

She could hear her dad cheering with the crowd after he made a good call.

After trudging through the crowd to get to the front, she saw her dad. He was dressed in a horrible outfit, red sunglasses and his hair slicked back. 

Angel was mortified because he looked far too much like a tv host douchebag from the 60’s. 

What made her stomach turn was the sight of the young girl who stood right in front of him. Her hand was on his chest and she was only a few inches away from his face.

She couldn't understand why this woman wanted him so much with how badly he dressed. She soon remembered that most people were attracted to her dad despite the fact he was someone's dad. He was also filthy rich which didn't hurt.

His security guards moved aside to let Angel through.

"We should stay till morning." Tony told the girl and Angel rolled her eyes.

"Dad." She called in a dull tone.

Both of their heads shot in Angel's direction. The girl blushed and went a little wide-eyed. Tony smiled awkwardly at his daughter and gently pushed the other girl away from him.

He took a few steps toward Angel with open arms.

"Hello, Sweetie. You look amazing, just like your mother." He gushed quickly and gave her a hug. She hugged him back but ignored his compliments.

"Did you forget where you were supposed to be?" She snapped at him.

"I'm here; this is where I'm supposed to be. I know you're not supposed to be here. How did you even get in? You're 17 you're not old enough-

"Dad! Rhodey was counting on you." She scolded and Rhodey finally caught up to her and looked at Tony.

"I know and I'm here." Tony said obviously.

It was clear now he did care enough to show up. He just didn't care to remember what time he was supposed to be here.

"You are unbelievable." Rhodey told him.

"Oh no." Tony groaned.

"Did Angel rope you into this? We have plenty of time before-

"No one roped me into anything." Rhodey cut him off and Angel stepped aside so they could face each other.

"I'm sorry." Her dad said with a smile, knowing damn well he had probably missed the award ceremony and that only amused him further.

"Angel, Obadiah, and the award committee told me that if I presented you with an award that you'd be deeply honored." Rhodey miffed.

"Of course I'd be deeply honored. And it's you, that's great." Tony told him leisurely.

"So when do we do it?" Tony asked but then told the person dealing he was going one more round.

"Right here." Rhodey said and pulled the award from behind his back.

"Here you go." He mumbled and Tony looked back at him to see the award.

"There it is. That was easy." He said with a warm smile.

"I hope you're happy. I had to accept it for you with Obadiah." Angel complained.

"And I love you for doing that for me, seriously, honey." He promised and held out his right arm for her to come stand by him.

She should have just left but it was hard to stay angry at Tony when he genuinely seemed like he wanted you around. She sighed and stood beside him.

There was a girl in orange gawking at her dad and she shot her a glare.

Angel hated the women her dad tended to 'like.' Most of the time they were only after his money. How could they not be? From a young age, Tony had taught her that was what most would want them for. Still, they both deserved far better than that. She could only assume he wasn't looking for anything but a good time. If that was the case, who cared about anyone's intentions? 

Pepper (someone who was like a second mom to Angel), her dad's assistant, said after Joan died that her dad slipped back into his old ways. He took the habit of trying to find happiness in places where it would only be filled temporarily. 

Angel couldn't blame him too much for that.

It wasn't her dad's fault; after her mom died he never really cared to look for love again. But a few years ago, she could finally see the way Pepper and her dad would flirt with each other. Ever since then, she's secretly been rooting for them to get together. 

"I'm sorry." Tony said to Rhodey.

"And I'm sorry you got all dressed up for nothing." He added and kissed Angel's temple.

"It's okay." Her and Rhodey almost said in the same “you've-done-this-to-us-a-million-times- sigh.”

Tony took the award and looked at it as if was a simple toy.

"Wow! Would you look at that? That's something else. I don't have any of those floating around." He said sarcastically and handed the award to the girl in black Angel had seen her pressed against her dad.

"Dad." Angel complained, worrying the girl would run off with the award and sell it on ebay.

"Don't worry," Tony said and looked at the girl, "You won't run off with it will you?"

He asked and the girl batted her eyelashes while she shook her head.

"Good, because if you did, I'm sure if my security guards didn't get you, my daughter sure as hell would." He added with a laugh and he grabbed the dice.

He bent over the table and pushed a whole bunch of betting chips forward. It was times like this where Angel realized they were truly lucky to be born rich.

"Alright we're gonna let it ride." He called once he leaned back up.

"Sweetheart, do one more thing for me, blow on this." He said and held up his hand that held the dice.

"Dad, no." Angel said firmly.

He looked so stupid. Who actually blew on the dice?

"Come on, please-

"No-

"I'll never ask again-

"No-

"Please-

"Dad, no-

"Please it's for good luck-

"UGH FINE," Angel groaned and huffed one quick breath of air on his hand.

"Someone's has an attitude." Tony commented and turned to the girl in black

"Give me a hand, will you? My Angel here may have just dammed it instead of blessing it. Give me a little something-something." Tony leered and the girl gave a seductive look as she blew a slow breath on his hand.

"Dear God." Angel said under her breath with complete disgust.

"Okay, you too." Tony said and turned to look expectantly to Rhodey.

Angel laughed for once at the grossed out look on Rhodey's face.

"I don't blow on a man's dice." He refused.

"Come on, honey bear!" Tony teased.

Rhodey couldn't put up with it anymore and knocked the dice out of his hand, sending it hurtling toward the table.

"There it is! Lieutenant Colonel Rhodes rolls! And..."

Tony trilled off as they waited to see what the dice number would be.

"Two Craps! Line away." The dealer called and Angel laughed.

"That's what happens." Rhodey shrugged.

"How much money did you just lose?" Angel asked her dad whose arm was still around her.

"That is not important right now. Worse things have happened. I think we're going to be fine. Color me up, Willam." Angel laughed a little at her dad's lack of gambling skill.

He was a shitty gambler but that was because he had nothing to lose.

"Dad, listen to me, we have to leave early tomorrow-

"Why didn't you bring your security guards? We have them for a reason, sweetheart. I don't like that you came here unprotected." Tony said, cutting her off as they were heading for the exit through the lobby.

"I don't need protection. Self-defense classes, remember? Not to mention the karate and boxing I know. If anything, people need protection from me." She said quickly trying to get back to the point.

"You can't sleep till noon, Dad. We have to get on the plane at-

"I know you're a black belt but I still don't' want you to think that makes you invincible. Bring your security guards with you next time you go anywhere."

As annoying as her dad's worrying could be, she understood it and tried her best to respect it. 

"Okay, Dad, whatever. Will you listen to me now?" She asked, unable to hide her irritation. 

"I've been listening." He said as if that was obvious.

Angel sighed, trying to contain her annoyance. 

"Listen to Angel, Tony. She's the only reason I'm positive you'll make it tomorrow." Rhodey said.

He stood to Tony's right while Angel had her arm locked with her dad's left. The security guards were trailing right behind them.

"I will. I always listen to her." Tony promised. 

"When it comes to your work you don't." Angel pointed out.

"I do when it counts." He argued and she rolled her eyes.

"This is where I exit." Rhodey said and Tony shook his hand.

"Bye." Angel called.

"Make sure you two aren't late tomorrow." Rhodey said to Angel and she nodded.

"You can count on it." Tony said and Rhodey just looked at Angel for confirmation.

"I will." She promised and Rhodey made his way toward his own car.

"I still cannot fathom why people trust you over me." Tony marveled and Angel laughed.

"It's because I actually fall through on what I say I'll do." She explained and he placed his hand over his heart as if he was wounded.

"I fall through for people." He argued.

"Yeah, days later when you care to remember." Angel said with a laugh.

Tony did not reply because he spotted a man dressed up as Caesar as he took some pictures with tourists.

"Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's. Here you go." Her Dad said grandly and gave the award to the random guy.

"Dad!" Angel shrieked in shock.

Even though he didn't think the award was a big deal, she did.

"Oh, come on! You'll get one in twenty years." Tony said dismissively and hurried his daughter out the door.

"You realize he's just going to sell the thing?" She asked angrily.

"Of course, then hopefully, he will no longer have to be an underpaid Caesar." Tony shrugged.

She groaned but she had to admit, it was a nice gesture.

They reached the parking lot and Angel couldn't stop the yawn that escaped her.

"You want to ride home with me or in your own limo?" Tony asked and before Angel could answer they heard someone calling both of their names.

Angel groaned inwardly.

She could recognize a reporter's tone anywhere. 

Angel unhooked her arm from her father's and turned around to see a young blonde woman who was probably in her late twenties.

"I'm sorry but no interviews tonight." Angel said in a dull voice which showed she wasn't sorry at all.

She just wanted to go home, take a bath, and get some rest.

They had to get up super early in the morning for a long flight and then after that, give a weapon presentation.

She and Tony had spent at least 6 months building the Jericho. It was their first weapon the entire board of Stark Industries approved of. They had shown them great weapons before but the board simply wouldn't accept them due to Angel's age. She had started making weapons with her father from the age of ten. Of course, at the time, it was a secret. However, when she was thirteen, she and Tony tried to persuade the board to see that Angel was a genius and to forget the small fact that she was thirteen.

Obviously, they wouldn't, but what the board didn't know is that a few of Tony's best weapons were made by both himself and his daughter. 

It was this year; they finally decided Angel at least appeared to be old enough and responsible enough for weapon manufacturing.

She would be presenting a weapon with her dad for the very first time and she was very proud. She wanted to prove to everyone she wasn't just Tony Stark’s daughter.

"I'm Christine Everhart. Vanity Fair magazine. Can I please ask you both couple of questions?"

Angel sighed, reporters never gave them a break, but when they were desperate they were dreadful to deal with. She felt the need to speak with this woman though because she was on the cover of vanity fair last year.

"Is she cute?"

Angel heard her dad ask Happy, his longtime friend, bodyguard, and driver.

"Are you serious?" Angel asked in a whispered hiss as she whirled around.

She knew her father liked women...liked them a lot which she understood. Women were great and all but now was not the time. 

"Of course I am-

"Dad!

"She's alright," Hogan whispered.

"Good God." Angel muttered as her father turned around with a bright smile.

He shook the girl's hand and Angel forced a smile and shook hers as well.

"Okay, shoot." Tony said.

"Miss Stark, you first. Some say you're too young and or irresponsible to be creating these weapons with your father. What is your opinion on the matter?"

Angel was used to this question by now; it had been coming ever since Stark Industries announced it to the public.

"Firstly, I'm turning 18 in a few months and lots of young people have done monumental things at young ages. My favorite being, Alexander the Great. He conquered all of the known word to Greeks, not to mention he founded his first colony at the young age of 17. As for being irresponsible, I don't see it. I don't drink, I don't do drugs, and I graduated from MIT when I was only 16. I think more responsible compared to most teenagers."

The statement was mostly true. If she drank it was always in the comfort of her own home where Tony had given her permission to. 

"Okay, what do you think about getting into the business so young? Causing deaths at such a young-

"Okay, that's uncall-

"No, Dad. I can handle it," Angel said and gave a smirk at Christine.

"What you call causing death, I call trying to protect the American people and its soldiers, and I consider it to be an honor to even attempt to do so." Angel said firmly.

She believed this...for the most part. Yes, sometimes, the thoughts of all the lives her family's name had destroyed kept her up at night. But...every time she ever thought of all the death they brought, she had to reminded herself they were trying to bring peace- they were trying to protect the soldiers. That was a good thing. They hadn't started the war, they were only trying to protect those in it.

"Very well spoken for your age." Christine said with an impressed smile that didn't really meet her eyes.

Angel nodded, irritated with this woman for her annoying questions and for her father being interested in her.

"Now, Mr. Stark, You've been called the da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?"

Angel was already smiling because she knew what her father would say.

"Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint."

Angel let out a small chuckle unable to resist because she grew up with Tony’s sense of humor.

"What about your other name? 'The Merchant of Death?'"

"Sounds kickass to me." Angel said and Tony snorted with laughter.

"Yeah, doesn't sound bad at all." Her father agreed. "Does that make my Ange here the Angel of Death? We could start some sort of band."

They could both already tell what kind of reporter this girl was and Angel didn't have much patience for a reporter who already had a negative opinion of them.

"Dad, I'm going to go ahead and head home." Angel whispered to him.

She was leaving now that she was sure that Tony appeared to be just as annoyed with this woman as she.

"Alright. Take some of my guards, and be safe." Tony warned and gave her a quick hug.

"Have a goodnight, Miss Everhart." Angel said with a smirk before she began to walk away toward her own limo.

"Happy, go with, Angel." Tony ordered and Angel groaned.

She thought he would simply forget that he told her to take some of the bodyguards. Angel kept walking, accepting that Happy would be her babysitter despite the fact she didn’t need one.

"I'm sorry, Ange. I know how much you hate being looked after." He confessed and she gave him a reassuring smile.

"It's not your fault. It's my dad who's overprotective." She said and sighed heavily. "Oh, and thanks for telling him the girl was cute." Angel said sarcastically and he laughed a little.

"Sorry. He asked, I answered. Give me a heads up next time and I’ll say she’s hideous." Hogan promised.

"Please do." Angel giggled. 

They reached her limo and her cute driver, David, got out of the car.

David was new to this job and Angel had picked him out purposefully for his good looks. 

"Go drive Mr. Stark's car." Hogan ordered the young man.

Angel frowned; she loved watching David's green eyes look her over in the rearview mirror.

"Can't you just be a passenger for once?" Angel asked and Hogan scoffed as if that was the silliest idea she’d ever had.

"Not in my nature." Hogan admitted and she chuckled even though she wasn’t happy with this outcome.

They walked to the car door and David opened the door.

She smiled up at the dashing boy and wished she could at least have a moment alone with the driver.

"Thank you, David." Angel whispered and Hogan looked disapprovingly at the young man who looked infatuated with Angel.

"Habit, Sir." David apologized and Hogan just exhaled as he walked to the driver's side.

"Sorry about him. He likes his job." Angel said with a nervous laugh.

She didn’t like David. She knew what liking someone felt like. This was attraction. She often hired people she found attractive. Her dad did it, she should be able to as well.

"I like my job too." David confessed with an almost goofy grin.

He was cute and it would be a shame to leave him unrewarded for his hard work.

Angel made sure Hogan was in the car before she wrapped a hand around David’s neck and pulled him into a lust filled kiss. She had a great deal of experience with kissing and it was one of her favorite pass times if the person she was kissing knew how to kiss back. Thankfully, David knew exactly what he was doing and kissed her back just as forcefully.

When they pulled apart Angel's heart was racing. He looked so stunned, but also turned on which is what is what made it adorable.

"I'll...see you around, David." She said before ducking into the car as if nothing had happened.

Angel closed the car door and she saw Hogan's look in the rearview mirror. It was mixture of disapproval and amusement. She was hoping he’d more amused than anything.

"I think your dad may have seen that." Hogan warned and she shrugged.

That meant Tony would probably fire him. Which she wished she could do to some of his people because that wasn’t very fair.

"Oh well. Nice knowing, David, then." Angel shrugged.

At least now she had the pleasure of finding another good looking driver. Maybe she could find a cute looking girl this time…

At least the night wasn't a complete waste. The kiss had made it all worth it. That aroused and confused look on David’s face was priceless.

Now she needed to get home and prepare for tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is actually interested in beta reading this fic for me, hit me up.


	3. Now or Never

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It is time to leave for Afghanistan and Angel is fully prepared. Her dad, however, has decided he needs to rebuild an engine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We're starting to get to the thick of it.

"Good Morning, Ms Stark, the sun may not be up but you requested to have a wake up call for four A.M."

JARVIS, (her favorite creation of her father's) voice came through her room.

Angel groaned in her bed, she indeed had told JARVIS to wake her, she merely hated that she only got four hours of sleep.

All of the lights of the room were now turned on, the moon shined bright through the gigantic glass walls and she set up in a daze.

Her room was huge, at least big enough for three other rooms, but she liked it.

The walls were split into two colors red and black. The floors had black soft carpet and a huge flat screen hung on the wall in front of her king-sized bed.

Her room had a clear view of the ocean. Where a wall should be there was simply glass. Usually, it was darkened so she could sleep, but JARVIS was trying to wake her up by letting the bright moonlight shine through.

"The weather in Malibu is currently sixty-five degrees with scattered clouds. The temperature will rise when dawn brakes. Shall I tell you the surfing conditions?" JARVIS asked and she shook her head.

"No thanks, JARVIS. No time to surf." Angel said.

She some time surfed, it was fun and Angel really got the hang of it when she was ten.

Tony didn't surf but she couldn't understand why, how could you not surf when you live in Malibu? It's almost a crime.

"Where's Ellis?" She asked and began heaving herself out of her comfy bed.

Ellis was her assistant; he's been her rock since she was fifteen, he was twenty-two currently but he was also her best friend.

He was pretty cute, sexy actually with that welsh accent of his, but he only had eyes for guys. Not that she cared, she had eyes for just about everything. Besides, she loved Ellis as he was, her best friend.

"Mr Price currently on his way. He called you approximately thirty minutes ago to tell you so, but I answered it so you could rest." JARVIS replied back.

Angel tended to forget that JARVIS wasn't a real person; it was simply because it seemed as if he really cared for her and her father.

She looked at the glass windows where JARVIS had websites she liked to check in the morning on the glass.

After looking everything over for a second, she decided nothing too important was going on today.

"Thank you, JARVIS." Angel said and stretched her body once before sighing.

"Alright, time to kick it into gear. How much time do I have before the flight?"

She asked the room as she walked over to her gigantic walk-in closet to change into some Nike bottoms and a Nike sports bra to work out in.

She simply pressed some buttons on a tablet before walking in and the clothes were waiting for her, folded and placed on a table.

Angel created this when she was thirteen; she had gotten sick and tired of sorting through all of her clothes so she made a machine to do it for her.

Angel had no intention of selling the invention. The last thing she needed to do was make herself known for changing the way women got dressed for the rest of her life.

"Your flight is scheduled to depart at six-thirty A.M. That leaves you with an hour and thirty minutes. To work out, take a shower, and get dressed. I spoke to Mr Price; he is going to pack your bags for you." JARVIS informed her.

She had already changed into her work out clothes and was heading out of the closet.

"He's a lifesaver. What's Dad doing, JARVIS?" She asked as she walked toward the small mini fridge by her bed to grab a bottle of water.

"Sleeping, but I should warn you, your father has...a guest in his bed."

Angel almost dropped her bottle of water when she heard JARVIS say that. A guest was common but Angel truly hadn't expected one to be there now.

"JARVIS, please tell me it's not the lady from Vanity Fair." Angel pleaded as she stood upright.

"That would be lying, Ms." JARVIS stated and she groaned.

She didn't know what was more disgusting, knowing that her father had sex last night or the fact he seemed to be into hate sex with a judgmental journalist.

"Ugh, that's...there's not a word for how gross it is. JARVIS, Give him a wakeup call at five. Tell him it's from me. Do me a favour and play some dreadful car alarms." Angel ordered.

"Of course." JARVIS said.

Angel decided not to dwell on things that sickened her and she knew needed to get moving.

"Alright, let Ellis in when he knocks on the front door, alert me when it's five AM and start my work out playlist in the gym. Crank it loud."

"I wouldn't dream of playing it any other way, Ms Stark." JARVIS replied and she began heading out the door with a smile.

"You're the best, JARVIS." She called before walking out the door.

Angel walked downstairs and into huge (thankfully soundproof) gym. She did this every day, usually not this early but still. Her workout consisted of four or five things.

Running, boxing, karate and Yoga (when she had the extra time she swam in their pool or the ocean). Yes, that was all an odd mix, but it had kept her in excellent shape.

Most of the time she would do the running and yoga on the beach only a mile away from her house, but today she would have to cut the running out altogether.

She didn't have time to do it; she had time to do the other three things for about fifteen minutes each.

Her workout music consisted classic rock but also current pop music. Right now, Christina Aguilera's Fighter was blaring and she immediately felt amped up. Tony had raised her on classic rock (which she loved); she grew up listening to ACDC, Aerosmith, Joan Jett and Black Sabbath. Angel loved that music but her taste it was very wide.

Angel started off with boxing, hitting the punching bag and dummies as hard as she could for 15 minutes.

Already in a sweat, she began to do karate. If the music wasn't so loud (and the room wasn't soundproof), everyone upstairs would hear her giving loud shouts as she kicked the practice dummies.

She was breathing heavily by the end of those 15 minutes.

This is why she always ended with yoga, it relaxed her, made her breathing go back to a normal pattern.

She started stretching, bending and breathing for at least 13 minutes.

In the middle of her Lord of Dance pose, JARVIS cut her music off and began to speak.

"It's five AM, Ms Stark." He announced and she let her body fall back into a normal standing position.

"Thank you, JARVIS. Did you wake Dad?" She asked before drowning her third bottle of water.

"Yes. He's awake and said he would get ready soon as long as you swear never to wake him up with car horns again." JARVIS explained and Angel sighed as she threw the bottle away.

"What is he doing?" Angel asked in annoyance.

"Working in the shop." JARVIS replied.

"Of course he is." Angel said in an angry sigh as she began heading up the stairs.

"JARVIS at five-thirty tell him I said to start getting ready." Angel ordered.

"Yes, Ms." He said.

Angel entered her room where Ellis had a huge black suitcase wide open on her bed. He had put some clothes in but it was clear he wasn't done yet.

Ellis, as always was dressed in a stunning suit and glasses. His dirty blonde hair was styled perfectly and he smelled amazing. Angel wondered how someone could look this put together when the sun was barely out.

Angel had told him on many occasions he could wear anything he liked (she wanted him to be comfortable). To which he insisted the suits were what he liked. He looked damn good in a suit so she understood his attachment to them.

"I've had to pack your bags before but I seriously think we should have called Donna to pick out what you were to a weapons presentation." Ellis said in a sigh as he turned around.

Ellis was a little taller than her; he was also well built which the suits helped show.

"We probably should have but we don't have time." Angel replied.

Donna was her stylist and lived at least a good two hours away from her. Angel hadn't thought to call her last night but now she realized what kind of a bind she was in.

What does a girl wear to a weapons demonstration in the deserts of Afghanistan?

"Okay, listen. I got you an outfit for the flight there- also some stuff to sleep in tonight because you'll still be on the plane- I got you something to sleep in for the flight back and I got you an outfit for when you come home. The only thing I can't figure out is-"

"What I'm wearing to the presentation."

Angel cut him off in a matter of fact tone as she walked into the huge white tiled bathroom to turn on the shower.

"Exactly. There are three things you can do." Ellis said, clearly wanting to tell her.

"Hit me." She said once she came back into the room.

"One, you can go all...G.I Jane. Some camouflage pants, combat boots, tan tank top-

"No. I don't want them to think I'm mocking them by dressing like that." Angel said quickly.

By 'them,' she meant the soldiers.

"Understandable. Now, option two, blue dress and heals." Ellis said and she thought for a moment.

"Yes to the heals, no to the dress." Angel mumbled.

"I thought you would say that, how about the responsible but yet sexy business woman look?"

Angel thought for a moment and couldn't think of a problem with it.

"Great. Pack it." She said and was about to head into the shower.

"Wait! For fuck's sake, you need your clothes." Ellis said and she came back to grab them.

"Thank you!" Angel smiled and she ran into the bathroom and closed the door.

\---

When she came out of the shower it was thirty-five minutes past five A.M. The plane was leaving in hour, she needed to hurry.

The clothes she had on now were a black tank top, a black leather jacket, short shorts, black pantyhose, some strappy sandals, and a large dark flora patterned purse. It was already fully loaded with everything she needed to have because Ellis knew she didn't have the time to fill it herself.

After she got done putting on all of her makeup it was six AM and they had thirty minutes to get to the plane.

She grabbed her bag and put on her dark sunglasses, Angel began heading to her living room where dawn was breaking through the glass windows.

Ellis and Pepper sat on the couch, typing away on their phones, both scheduling upcoming events for Tony and Angel. They were working separately but in a way, they looked like they were working together.

"Oh, Angel just to remind you, in June you have that speech to give at MIT. Your Dad's giving one the same day. Right, Ms Potts?"

Ellis asked and Pepper nodded.

"I think so, if I can get him to agree to it." Pepper said with a sigh.

"I just graduated from there you'd think they'd leave me alone." Angel muttered to herself a bit too loudly.

"Well, you are there youngest graduate." Pepper said and smiled at her proudly.

Angel looked at Pepper as her understudy mom. She had been in her life for as long as Angel could remember. She had taught her how to walk in heels, had helped Tony give the sex talk to Angel and did everything Tony couldn't personally do for Angel. Not because she had to but because she loved Angel and the feeling was mutual.

"Still, I'd like a break from them." Angel said while brushing her hair from her face.

She looked at her two suitcases by the door; one filled with clothes the other with makeup, soap, toothbrush ext.

"Why aren't Dad's bags-?"

"He's still in the shop he won't come up for anything." Pepper cut her off in an annoyed tone.

Now Angel was extremely annoyed with her dad.

"I'm going to make him hurry up. We're already going to be late as it is." She groaned and began walking down the spiral stairs to the shop.

When she got down the stairs she could see through the glass doors, Tony was sitting on a small stool, rebuilding the engine to one of the old cars he had.

Angel typed in the code to get in (which was Joan's birthday with some added symbols).

'The Stroke' by Billy Squier was blaring so loud it hurt Angel's ears, which was surprising since she likes things pretty loud.

JARVIS quickly shut the music off.

"Turn that back on."

Tony said in a distracted voice.

"JARVIS don't. Dad, would you care to look at the clock?" Angel snapped, Tony sighed and turned around.

"It's twenty minutes past six- oh you look very nice to have only had an hour and a half to do everything that takes you two hours."

She groaned at his compliment. It meant nothing to her at the moment. He was just trying to distract her.

"Thanks, Dad but our flight is in ten minutes." She pointed out angrily.

"I know. I can see the clock; I just want to finish this one thing before we go." Tony explained innocently.

"We'll be back the day after tomorrow. It can wait." She said firmly.

"No. It can't. This car not having a running engine is bugging me." He said simply and turned around to keep working on the car.

"If I had your help it would get done faster." He warned in a sing-song voice and she rolled her eyes.

They had rebuilt cars together before. They had also built and rebuilt engines. Sometimes they remodel cars from scratch. Angel had started working on cars when she was around the age of eight but really got into it when she twelve. Building things for cars were much easier than building a weapon or a piece or technology. 

When she built a car, it was like putting a puzzle together. Getting something done was like getting a jigsaw piece to fit and after that happened you wanted to do more and more until the puzzle was complete. It wasn't stressful at all, it was relaxing for her to use her mind but not in a very complicated way.

If they didn't have things to do, she would probably help him.

"I'm not helping you. We have to be on the plane-

"Sweetie, it's our plane. It's not going to leave without us."

In all reality, the plane was Tony's but he considered anything he owned to be Angel's as well.

"I know that, but just because it will, that doesn't mean you should lollygag." She snapped.

"Lollygag?" Tony snorted.

"You Google word of the day or something-?"

"No, Dad, I didn't. Lollygagging is what you're doing."

Tony turned around in his seat and smiled at her.

"I have been working on this car since five AM, how is that lollygagging?" He questioned and Angel couldn't take it anymore.

She groaned and began heading for the door.

"I love you too, honey." He said with amusement.

Angel opened the door and looked over her shoulder at him.

"If you're not ready by seven, I am out the door." She warned and he nodded quickly.

"I'll be done by then." He called to her once she closed the door and began heading up the steps.

"No you won't, Sir." JARVIS pointed out and Tony shushed him.

"What she doesn't know won't hurt her. I'll only be a few more hours. If she would help we'd be done in no time." Tony mumbled.

\---

"Ellis, call Rhodey. Tell him I am sorry but my dad won't come out of the shop." Angel said as she came back up the stairs looking defeated.

Ellis pulled out his phone and began dialling.

"Also tell him I'm heading his way at seven, with or without Dad." She added.

"Where's Pepper?" Angel asked curiously, she had been there a moment ago.

"She's removing your dad's shag of the evening. She's gone to pick up Vanity's dry cleaning and calling her a car ride out of here." Ellis told her before greeting Rhodey.

Angel couldn't help but feel bad for Pepper, always handling the things her father should handle himself.

"How did he sound?" Angel asked when Ellis got off the phone with Rhodey.

"Not happy. He's pissed, I think. Not with you, your dad." Ellis promised.

"Still, I feel responsible." Angel sighed as she sat beside him on the couch.

"I don't know why, you can't control your dad, you just like to think you can." Ellis said with an amused smile.

"Hey, if I told him I wanted to go on vacation with him right now, he'd drop everything to go to fucking Hawaii with me." Angel pointed out.

This was the truth; Tony would do anything Angel wanted as long as it didn't involve work.

For example, when most people think Tony is the kind of father who didn't make it to ballet recitals, karate tournaments and graduations...they were wrong.

Tony was there, front row, every time. He never missed anything that was important to Angel. Except...when it came to work. Tony did things at his own speed there.

It's not that Tony didn't do his job, he did and he was great at it. It's just...he did it on his own time.

"Okay, you control him when it comes to your wants, needs and whims...but when it comes to work, you can't make him do anything." Ellis said simply.

She grabbed a pillow, buried her face in it and groaned. Ellis was right; she couldn't make her dad do anything. It didn't matter how damn hard she tried.

"Not even Ms Potts can make your dad do something he's dead set on not doing." Ellis assured her and she let the pillow fall beside her.

"I promised, Uncle Rhodey that-"

"Rhodey has known your dad longer then you have, trust me, he's used to his bad habits by now." Ellis promised as he stared at his phone.

"Oh, you got a call from David this morning." Ellis said with a chuckle and Angel looked at him with disbelief.

"How'd he get my number?" She asked.

"He didn't. You gave him my phone number that's for assisting you. Thanks for that. We agreed not to do that anymore, remember?"

Ellis said and she blinked in confusion.

"I don't remember giving him your number." She admitted as she scooted closer to him to look at the phone.

"Well, you did. It was the weekend where he washed your car without his shirt on which...was entertaining but uncalled for."

Angel smirked, that she remembered. Very fondly.

"What I recall from that day was his chiselled body, nothing else." Angel said and Ellis scoffed.

"I understand but you shouldn't go into autopilot whenever you see an attractive person." Ellis scolded playfully and Angel felt her cheeks warm a bit.

"What did he say?" Angel asked curiously.

"Oh nothing. Just that he wants to see you even though your dad made it clear that he was too old for you." Ellis said in a dull sigh.

He had to give news like this all the time; it got old a long time ago.

"That's what they all say." Angel said just as dully.

"And you never call the poor souls back." Ellis pointed out playfully.

"Sometimes I do. When they're a year or two older." She mumbled.

"Yeah and then you date them for no longer then three months." Ellis pointed out with a knowing smile.

"Once I find someone who isn't boring and someone I honestly like...I'll stick with them." Angel promised him.

"What are you looking for in a person exactly?" Ellis asked curiously.

Angel had recently come out as bisexual. Not yet to the media but everyone in her personal life. Thankfully, everyone had taken it well and she felt that whenever she found a girl she liked, it wouldn't be a big deal if she dated them.

"Oh, no you don't. I'm not telling you. With your track record, you'll have me on blind dates from here until Christmas." Angel argued and he smirked.

"You're not looking for anyone. You're looking for people to shag. There are people in this world that you might like for other reasons." He explained and sat his phone down. "What if I promise not to set you up for anything?" He asked hopefully and she sighed with defeat.

"Fine...I'm into people like me most of the time. People who might be seen as an asshole but aren't really. Someone with confidence. Someone who doesn't get jealous all the damn time. I wouldn't mind a nice person. A genuine, real, humble and innocent one. Someone who's just a sweetheart. Who's maybe not as smart as me-

"Someone who's the exact fucking opposite of you." Ellis assumed.

Her mouth opened with surprise but she smiled. "I'm nice." She argued.

"Yeah," he paused, "but you can be a bitch when you want to be." She opened her mouth to argue, but she couldn't, so she quickly closed her mouth. "True."

When people were pissing her off she could get what most people called bitchy. She wouldn't disagree but if anyone who wasn't her friends or family called her that there would be hell to pay.

"And you're not romantic. You just like romantic things done for you." Ellis observed and she nodded.

"True but it can't be too much or I might get spooked." She mumbled.

"So you're looking for someone you can corrupt?" Ellis assumed with a smirk.

"No. I want them to be incorruptible. That will mean their a really good person. " She explained with a laugh because she knew it sounded ridiculous. She'd never find someone like that and she wasn't exactly looking for a partner anyway.

"Looks like you're an angel looking for a saint." Ellis mumbled and Angel couldn't contain her laughter.

"Not a total saint...there's no fun in that."

They both laughed and then talked about the plans Angel had for when she came back.

A Seventeen magazine photo shoot, her birthday party that was set to be in Paris, the MIT speech and the Barbra Walters interview that herself and Tony agreed to do. Just when they were talking about the guest list for her party, a voice interrupted them.

"Tony?" A voice called from upstairs.

"Oh God." Angel groaned.

"Please tell me this girl is at least somewhat nice." Ellis whispered to her and she shook her head.

Her beauty was undeniable and Angel had noticed it herself. She was just a bit too old for her. Angel usually didn't let that stop her but she knew she had to be careful if they looked a little older than usual. That and she couldn't be attracted to anyone who was so judgmental.

"She's beautiful...she'd get laid even more if she wasn't a judgmental ass." Angel mumbled angrily.

"Tony?" Christine called again.

"Tony?" Angel mimicked in a whisper and then groaned.

"She shouldn't sound so desperate." Angel said with disgust and Ellis shook his head because he knew Angel could get a bit carried away.

She didn't sound desperate. Lost and confused? Maybe, but not desperate. Nevertheless, Angel heard what she wanted to hear. She was stubborn and even if her dad brought home the nicest girl in the world, she'd most likely dislike them. Angel thought her dad deserved the best and this wasn't it.

Christine entered the room, wearing the hideous shirt Tony had on last night and she let out a yelp when she saw Ellis and Angel sitting on the couch with smiles on their faces.

"I have to be honest, when I pictured seeing you again, you had more clothes on." Angel confessed casually.

Christine blushed and laughed awkwardly. It was a nightmare for anyone to by caught by the family after sex. The only worse thing is getting caught during the act. Thankfully, Angel's more than happy that she's never caught her dad in the act in her lifetime thanks to JARVIS.

"Um...me too." Christine said with a fake laugh.

She folded her arms across her chest, Angel could tell she felt very uncomfortable, this was good, at least in her eyes. Maybe that would teach her to stay away from her dad.

"Is Tony around?" Christine asked hesitantly.

"No, not at the moment." Angel lied and Christine awkwardly nodded and turned around.

She started looking at everything around her. The waterfall in the living room, the photos of Joan hanging on a few of the walls and she saw the panel on the wall that was designed to control the house. Angel should have told her that she shouldn't touch that but she wanted to see the girl jump a foot in the air when JARVIS warned her to stop.

"What's her name?" Ellis asked quietly.

"Damned if I know. Kristen or something." Angel replied back.

"You're horrible with names." Ellis said but they both laughed quietly when JARVIS told Christine that she was not allowed accesses to this area.

Pepper entered the room, clothes from the dry cleaners in hand; she looked at Ellis and Angel with a warning look which shut them up.

She turned toward Christine.

"That's JARVIS. He runs the house." Pepper explained to her kindly.

"He's also the best piece of artificial intelligence in the world." Angel added quickly.

Her father (and JARVIS himself) deserved all the credit in the world for being amazing.

"I've got your clothes here. They've been dry-cleaned and pressed. There's car waiting for you outside that will take you anywhere you would like to go." Pepper informed her.

Christine just nodded as she walked toward Pepper.

"You must be the famous Pepper Potts." She assumed.

"Indeed I am." Pepper said with a kind smile, if you knew Tony Stark, you knew his assistant.

The same case with Angel and Ellis.

Christine took the clothes from Pepper and gave her what Angel thought was a very bitchy look.

"After all these years Tony still has you picking up the dry cleaning." She said and Angel's mouth fell open.

Hell no. You don't insult Pepper like that, not in front of her.

Angel was about to get to her feet and give the little wench a piece of her mind when Ellis pulled her back down. He knew Pepper was perfectly capable of handling this judgmental woman on her own.

Angel knew this as well but wanted to give miss Vanity Fair something more than a witty comment.

Pepper smiled at her.

"I do anything and everything Mr Stark requires."

That's it? Angel thought with confusion.

"Including, occasionally, taking out the trash." Pepper said with a bright polite smile. "Would that be all?" She added and by this point Ellis and Angel sat with their mouths agape.

Christine glared at Pepper before turning to walk out of the room and back upstairs to change.

"Pep, you seriously are a genius." Angel said with pride as she stood.

"No, I'm not. Just smarter than all of the girls your dad picks up." She commented and then looked around the room.

"He wouldn't come up?" Pepper asked with an exasperated sigh.

"Nope, and it's-

"Twenty minutes past seven, Ms Stark." JARVIS informed her when she trailed off.

"Thanks and I'm late. I need to go." Angel said with a heavy sigh and gave her a quick hug.

"Get him out the door somehow." She pleaded and let her go.

"I will." Pepper promised and Angel gave Ellis a hug.

"You sure you don't want to come with me?" She asked when they pulled away from each other.

He scoffed.

"As much as I loved playing army as a kid, I do not belong in the desert; I'll see you when you get back." He assured her and she nodded.

"Walk out with me?" She asked and he nodded.

"Hogan's driving you." Pepper said as Angel began heading for the door.

"Why? Can't I take my Thunderbird?" Angel asked in a groan.

She had gotten a black 1965 Ford Thunderbird for her sweet sixteen from Tony. Angel loved that car and she would drive it all the time if her dad didn't want her to be driven places for safety reason. She loved Hogan but she didn't like being driven everywhere as if she was incapable of doing so.

"You won't get to drive the thing Afghanistan, there's no point in it. And you would be going with David to the airport if you hadn't made out with him in front of you dad." Pepper pointed out as Ellis held the door open.

Hogan came inside and grabbed the two large, heavy bags.

"I had to do something to make up for that sucky night and...he was hot. It's not like I'm the one shacking up with Little Miss Vanity Fair." She argued as if that was obvious.

Pepper just sighed as she rubbed eyes for a moment while Angel made her way to the door.

"I love you, Pep." Angel called.

"Love you too, now be safe." She ordered.

She gave Ellis one more hug before getting into the black car. It wasn't a limo but it was a nice large car.

When they pulled out of the driveway she pulled her phone out from her bag. She pressed Rhodey's contact and called him.

He picked up on the first ring.

"Hey, Angel." He greeted dully.

"Hi, Rhodey. How are you doing?" She asked and he scoffed.

"Fine, I've just been standing here wanting on your dad since six in the morning." He said bitterly.

"I'm sorry, I tried to-"

"Don't you be sorry for anything. You tried and I'm angry with him, not you." Rhodey promised.

"You sure? I mean, I'm late too." She said with a smile, knowing he wasn't mad at her at all.

He laughed.

"You're late because you were trying to wait on your dad." Rhodey pointed out knowingly and she laughed.

"Well, I'm on my way now. I don't know how long he's going to keep us waiting." She warned.

"Me either but if he takes any longer I'm perfectly happy with just taking you to Afghanistan. We'll leave him here and you can give the demonstration by yourself." Rhodey said with contempt.

Angel laughed at the thought. Tony would kill them both if they did that to him.

"I'd do it but it's my first one. I kind of need him this go around." She confessed.

"Of course and I wouldn't leave him anyway. See you in a second?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure thing, bye." She said and hung up after Rhodey said goodbye.

After a second of silence, Hogan spoke.

"You excited?" He asked curiously, watching her in the mirror.

Angel shrugged.

"Nervous and excited." She explained.

It was her first time visiting the troops and also the first time she would be there to see one of the weapons she helped build be displayed.

"Understandable." Hogan chuckled.

After that their conversion was filled with talk about her dad and what she had been doing since four in the morning. Hogan informed her he would be going back for her dad and Angel honestly wondered if her dad would even get in the car.

Hogan drove right to the Stark Industries airport, parking right where the plane was because Angel was a Stark and had full permission. Rhodey stood on the planes extended stairs in his Air Force uniform. When she got out of the car he waved. The wind was blowing hard here, and the sun was now out and shining brightly.

Hogan went to the back of the car and grabbed her bags.

"He'll keep us waiting another hour at least." She warned Rhodey as she walked up the steps.

"I'm used to it. Rhodey said in a sigh before giving her a hug.

"You look nice." He commented.

"Thanks." She beamed and walked inside the plane. Hogan and Rhodey following behind her.

"What room?"

Hogan asked, the plane had two bedrooms, but the couch was also a pull out bed.

"The one on the right, it's bigger." She said with a knowing smile and pulled her sunglasses off.

If her dad was going to be late, that meant she got to pick the first room and he'd have to learn to be early next time.

Hogan walked by her to the room with her bags and she thanked him.

"You ready for this?" Rhodey asked Angel with a smile.

"I am. I'm just a little nervous about the whole thing." Angel admitted.

"Don't worry about it; they'll love you like everyone else does." Rhodey said and she laughed.

"Not everyone loves me." She reminded him as she went to sit down on the couch.

"I'll be back with Mr Stark ...soon...or later...at one point in time I'll be back. Happy said and walked out of the plane.

A Stewardess with dark hair pulled up in a bun walked over to Angel which was the first good thing she had seen this morning.

"Good morning." The lady in her twenties greeted.

"It is now." Angel offered with a warm smile.

She was very pretty, and that was a requirement for the entire Stark Industries stewardesses. It was her father's rule, when most airlines just wanted good working flight attendees, he wanted pretty stewardesses. She couldn't blame her dad, she saw the appeal. She only wished it was men and women working here. Why limit your choices?

"Would you like anything to drink, Ms Stark?" She asked and Angel smiled up at the older girl.

"A coffee, sugar, almond milk and a small amount of honey."

She added and the stewardess nodded politely before walking off. Angel's eyes lingered on her for just a moment and she wished she was a bit older.

"You're almost as bad as your dad." Rhodey warned and Angel chuckled as he took a seat next to her.

"I beg to differ. I don't bring people home with me and have the whole house greet them the next day. Not to mention, have my assistant kick them out." She argued before yawning.

"Yeah, only because Tony might explode." Rhodey pointed out and she shrugged.

"Yup. Dad's rarely a hypocrite but me being interested in people tends to be an exception." She mumbled and Rhodey looked at her as if the answer to this was obvious.

"It's because you're just a kid." He reminded her and she rolled her eyes.

"He was a kid once. Pretty sure he did the same as me. Hell, he got my mom pregnant at my age. He really shouldn't talk."

To her surprise, Rhodey laughed at her and she smiled.

"What?" She asked.

"Well, you know, he could be trying to prevent another teenage pregnancy?" He suggested and Angel froze.

She hadn't thought about that before. It could play a factor as to why but she didn't think it was the sole reason. Tony had taught her safe sex; not absence. Maybe it was just because she was 17 and his daughter. He didn't want to see her all over people. Just like she didn't want to see him all over girls.

"Possibly. But still..." She wanted to say more but ended up yawning again.

"Tired?" Rhodey asked and she nodded.

"Exhausted." Angel confessed.

"Don't be surprised if I start babbling." She warned.

"I won't be." Rhodey said and he left to go stand on the stairs again.

Angel watched tv for another hour, it was a little past eight in the morning when she heard cars outside of the plane.

She stood and walked to the stairs with Rhodey who looked completely and utterly pissed.

Tony pulled up in the Stark 4, a shiny sports car and Happy came after in the black car. He got out of the car first; he was in a leather jacket, a brown shirt, jeans, boots and some sunglasses. He was laughing when he got out of the car.

"You're good!" Tony said and turned to look at Happy, they had apparently been racing each other.

"I thought I'd lost you back there." Tony said happily and Happy grabbed his bag and suit from the back of the car.

"You did, Sir." Happy informed him and closed the trunk. "I had to cut across Mulholland." He explained.

"Ah, I got ya, I got ya." Tony chuckled with a bright smile.

"He's been playing race cars while you and I have been waiting here for him." Rhodey said with disgust.

Tony began walking toward the plane, Happy following behind him.

"Took you long enough, Dad." Angel said and he shrugged.

"If you would have helped me out I would have been here an hour ago." Tony said.

"What is wrong with you?" Rhodey asked.

"What?" Tony asked with confusion.

"Three hours." Rhodey began.

"I got caught doing a piece for Vanity Fair." Tony explained as he walked up the steps.

"Screwing would be the better word." Angel mumbled angrily to Rhodey who just sighed.

"For three hours you got me standing here." Rhodey told Tony who smiled at him.

"Waiting on you now. Let's go. Come on." Tony said simply and walked into the plane, Happy hurrying behind.

"I am sorry for who he is. I am." Angel apologized.

"Wheels up! Rock and Roll!" Tony yelled from inside.

They both walked inside, hoping this plane ride wouldn't drive them insane.

\--- 

After saying goodbye to Happy, they set off into the air.

They were in the air for a good half hour when they all deiced to have breakfast.

Rhodey sat with Tony at the table and Angel set on the couch eating two Sunnyside up eggs.

Angel was on her third cup of coffee by the time they finished. The last cup being an Irish one.

Rhodey was now reading the paper and Tony was watching him and his daughter curiously.

"Are you mad at me, Angel?" He asked and she looked away from the tv and to him.

"Is it obvious?" She asked a bit more sarcastically than she should have.

"Why? I'm here now." He said as if that justified everything.

"So? We're still late." She snapped quickly and he stared at her for a moment before standing.

He walked over to where she sat on the couch and set right beside her, putting his arm around her.

She sighed, trying to scoot away from him but he only followed her. She avoided his gaze by looking at the TV, watching a documentary on World War II.

Angel knew about it backwards and forwards but this was a new documentary. She had heard her grandfather's name a lot of times, even seen a few pictures of him, he looked a lot like her dad. Of course, she would never say that to Tony, she knew how uncomfortable the subject of his father made him.

Angel didn't know too much about her grandfather, she knew the important things history taught her, but when it came to the kind of person he was...she knew only what Tony told her.

Angel was only one year old when her grandparents died in that car crash. She couldn't remember anything about them aside from the fact Tony always said they adored her.

"When you are mad at me you remind me so much of your mom." Tony gushed and she looked to her left at him with a blank stare.

"No, not going to win me over with mom talk." She warned before looking back at the tv.

"Oh look, Captain America. The reason people have uniform fetishes." She joked, trying to change the subject.

It didn't work.

"She'd get angry at the same little things you do and she'd react just like you are now." Tony said almost fondly.

Angel hated when he realized little things like this, it was really hard to stay mad at him when he was reminiscing.

"Dad, don't do that. It won't make me stop being mad at you." She lied and looked back at the TV.

"Why are you mad at me exactly?" He asked with honest confusion and she groaned.

Angel removed his arm and moved to sit cross-legged in front of him.

"Because, I reminded you a hundred times when we were supposed to be here and you just...didn't care." Angel huffed and he shook his head.

"I care. I'm glad you reminded me. That's very sweet of you. I don't know what I would do without you, sweethear-"

"Dad, I didn't mean I'm mad because you don't care about all the stuff I try to help you with, that's not what I'm mad about-"

"What then?" Tony asked in exasperation.

"I'm mad that you don't care about your work at all." Angel explained.

This wasn't her first time telling him this and he just looked at her with those big, brown, innocent eyes. His stupid puppy dogs eyes.

"I care, if I didn't I wouldn't have showed up at all." Tony reminded her with a knowing grin and she rolled her eyes.

"I know I just...I wish you'd care more about things like this." She confessed and to her surprise he laughed.

"Angel." He said and placed his hand over her right one and squeezed it.

"It's my job, trust me....I care, but you don't need to worry if I don't, that's my responsibility. Not yours. I've told you that a million times." He insisted and removed his hand.

Angel stared down at her crossed legs.

He was right. Completely right but that didn't mean her mind would allow her to stop seeing it as her responsibility. 

"I know but Dad-"

"No. None of that. You're smarter than thinking stuff like that." Tony cut her off her firmly.

She looked up at him with irritated eyes.

"I understand that all of the..." She paused, searching for the right word.

"Irresponsible." Rhodey offered as he read his paper.

Tony shot him a glare.

"Rhodey, can you please be the amazingly obedient soldier you are and stay out of this. It's Daddy-Daughter businesses." Tony said with annoyance.

"Thank you, Rhodey. That's the perfect word- and ignore him." She added and looked back at her dad seriously.

"I understand that all of the irresponsible things you do aren't my fault, I'm not stupid. That much I can understand...but the problem is that I can't help but feel like it is." Angel explained, talking quickly like her father tended to do.

Tony sighed, he hated when Angel did this to him, give him a problem he really couldn't fix. He could try to talk her out of feeling a certain way but it wouldn't work. She was stubborn like both himself and Joan.

"I'm not going to tell you to stop feeling that way because that would be inconsiderate-"

"Since when are you considerate?" Rhodey asked.

He knew very well Tony was extremely considerate with Angel, but to be frank, Rhodey was angry with Tony and wanted to drive his patience up the wall.

"Whenever you became so nosy. What side of the bed did you wake up on, sour patch?" Tony questioned and Angel had to fight a smile. It didn't work and Tony smiled a bit once he saw that he lighted his daughter's mood.

"The one where I was up at the crack of dawn just so I could wait for you for three damn hours." Rhodey replied bitterly.

"Angel's been up since four and she isn't as grouchy as you, Oscar." Tony said with a smug smile at Rhodey's glare.

Angel laughed aloud at Tony's reference of Oscar the Grouch from Sesame Street.

"You're a child." Rhodey stated before picking up the newspaper to read.

"Takes one to know one." Tony said and smiled at Angel because her smile still remained.

He loved to make her laugh or smile. It was one of his favorite pastimes. The best sound in the world was Angel's laugh. Her uncontrollable, bubbling laugh. Her laugh was like Joan's. It could make him burst into laughter simply because of how joyful it sounded.

He dropped his smile into a reassuring expression.

"Don't worry about your dad. You're not responsible for me or what I do. I swear. Even if you feel like it...you're not." Tony assured her in that tone that all parents used when trying to comfort their children.

Angel hated that tone; the tone that he used when she was little, telling her monsters didn't exist. The tone he used when she was scared of storms and said everything was going to be okay. There was nothing wrong with the tone; she just hated how it still could calm her even when she knew better than to believe him.

Of course, despite all of her efforts, Angel believed him...for the time being anyway.

She knew that this...comfortable, reassuring feeling would go away in the next ten minutes when her dad (most likely) did something he shouldn't do.

"I on the other hand." He began and put an arm around Angel just to pull her close to him.

"Am responsible for you." He put both arms around her and held her tight; he also kissed her cheek repeated times causing her to laugh and pull her face away.

She was laughing and trying to push him off of her but he held her in an extremely tight hold.

"Dad!" She objected with a groan.

Neither them of noticed Rhodey's slight smile as he read his paper. 

Despite everything, it was nice to see Tony and Angel like this. Angel finally broke free after a minute and stood.

"Do you not love your father?" Tony joked as she walked toward the door to her room.

"I do but damn, Dad, you're smothering me." Angel pointed out as she opened the door but turned around to look at him fondly.

"You used to like being smothered." Tony argued.

"Yeah, when I was six and harder to smother." She corrected.

"You're still six to me, sweetie." Tony reminded her and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll be in my room if anyone needs anything." She offered and walked in, closing the door behind her.

Angel spent a good three hours watching movies on the flat screen in the room when she heard loud, somewhat muffled, music coming from the lounging part of the plane.

She sighed and got off the bed. When she got to the door she wondered if she should even open it. She didn't know what would lie on the side of the door and she didn't know if she wanted to find out. What sounded like disco music and girls giggling was never a good sign when her father was involved.

"You know what; I'm not even going to fucking look." Angel said to herself and walked back over to the bed and turned on another movie.

At least tomorrow everything will be somewhat normal. No lame music, no laughing stewardesses, just a desert, some great American soldiers, and a Jericho Missal.

At least...her version of normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, you enjoyed it. Comments/Kudos are very appreciated.


	4. Blown Away

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A weapons presentation should go smoothly, right? It does but it what follows that changes things.

Angel woke up early the next morning; the plane was still in flight but would most likely land within the next hour or two. Not wanting to risk not having enough time to get ready, she decided to go ahead and do it now.

Before getting in the shower, Angel did do some yoga for thirty minutes. She couldn't do her full workout here but she could always do yoga, even on a plane. She would always do yoga every morning, even if it was only for five minutes. If she didn't, it affected her emotionally and physically. Yoga was an escape for her; it calmed her body and spirit. Yoga was a part of her life and she honestly couldn't imagine life without it.

After showering, Angel blow dried her hair and then put on her makeup. She then curled her hair (which she saved for special occasions) and that took another thirty minutes. She was now dressed in a tight, dark pair of jeans, some grey high heels, a black lace-like top, and an overcoat that was only buttoned in the middle. Even though it looked a bit relaxed, she thought it suited the occasion. She looked young, sexy but also responsible. This was exactly what she wanted; she would have to thank Ellis as soon as she got home.

\---

It was around eight in the morning when she walked into the lounging area. She saw Rhodey (still in his uniform) eating breakfast with her dad who was in his pyjamas and reading the paper at a large table in the middle of the room.

The room smelled like alcohol and she sighed, her dad had gotten everyone hammered. She dreaded being with Rhodey now, he would not be pleased with a hangover.

The table was covered with plates of breakfast food, pancakes, biscuits, hash browns, etc.

"Good morning, Angel." Tony greeted happily.

He didn't appear to be hungover, but Angel could see his eyes were slightly red.

Anyone (even from a great distance) would be able to tell poor Rhodey was hungover.

He looked to be in complete hell with his head buried in his hands.

"Looks like you guys had a very...productive night." She noted and Tony gave her a one armed hug before she sat beside him.

His hair was slicked back because he had just got out of the shower, Angel could smell his expensive cologne on him.

"It's not what you think we only had a few drinks." Tony justified.

"A few? Rhodey looks like he's been hit by a bus and your eyes are red." Angel pointed out as a matter of fact.

She now noticed the cup of fizzy white cloudy water in front of Rhodey.

He was drinking Alka Seltzer.

"What can I get you today, Miss Stark?" A stewardess with blonde hair asked as she now stood beside her seat.

Did everyone have to be so attractive? It was distracting.

"Two Sunny Side up eggs, a sliced tomato and coffee." Angel said quickly and looked back at Tony.

"You're both hungover." She stated as the stewardess left.

Rhodey couldn't even deny it; he took a sip of the Alka Seltzer.

"I'm not hungover." Tony lied, and it was only a tiny white lie.

Based on a hangover pain scale that levelled from one to ten, (he had been to ten many times and it was utter hell) he was at three.

Tony only had a small headache and it was already going away with the help of some juice and the shower he'd taken.

"Your Bloody Mary, Mr Stark." A stewardess with bright red hair said and handed Tony a large glass.

Tony thanked her awkwardly because he knew that Angel knew very well that the Bloody Mary was his go-to hangover cure.

"Really?" Angel asked with raised eyebrows as the stewardess left.

"Don't look at me with those judgemental eyes. I'm fine. I, unlike Rhodey, am not a lightweight." Tony said with a proud smile as he took a sip of the Bloody Mary.

Rhodey didn't seem to care what Tony had said, he was now laying his head face down on the table.

"Getting him drunk may have made him forgive you, but you do realize that you've also created an angry hungover monster?" Angel asked with a warning look.

"Platypus will get over it." Tony said simply and she laughed a little.

He could get really creative with insulting names.

Tony looked over at Rhodey and poked him with his finger twice to make sure he wasn't paying too much attention.

"Dad, leave him alone, he's in enough pain already." Angel scolded and Tony turned away from Rhodey to look at her.

"Did you know he basically called me a baby after you left? Even after I told him I was sorry." Tony said as if saying he was sorry meant he had brought the moon down for Rhodey.

"Can't blame him, Dad." She said in a sigh as Tony took a bite of his pancakes but then went a little wide-eyed at her comment.

"I understand why Rhodey called you that. You did make him stand there-

"For three hours, I know. Trust me, I heard him the first twenty times he said it." Tony muttered as he poked Rhodey once more and this time he groaned.

"Yes but that was pretty-

Angel began but was cut off by Tony who was clearly a little annoyed with what Rhodey had said last night.

"Childish of me, I have no respect for myself so why should he have respect for me-? Blah, blah, blah- that's everything he said yesterday. I had to get him drunk just so he would stop lecturing me. I can handle it from you because you're not so judgmental. When Rhodey does it, it's like I'm in a courtroom and he's giving me very long, very boring, very non-important speech before he sentences me to life in prison." Tony argued and Angel looked at him sceptically.

"Bit dramatic dad?" Angel asked and he shrugged.

"No...not at all." He mumbled and stuffed a bit of pancake into his mouth.

"I love you too, Tony." Rhodey groaned sarcastically.

"Never said I didn't love you, Rhodey." Tony pointed out as Rhodey sat back up and took a long swallow of his Alka Seltzer.

A stewardess brought Angel's food and coffee out. She had a hard time focusing on her food because she was honestly worried about Rhodey.

She couldn't help but feel a little guilty because her dad was the one that had gotten him so hammered.

"Are you going to be okay?" Angel asked with concern.

He moaned and removed his hands from his face.

"Sooner or later I will be." Rhodey lamented.

"It could be sooner if he would do what I say for once." Tony argued as he looked at Rhodey and back to Angel.

"I tried getting him to drink a Bloody Mary-

"I am not drinking anymore, Tony!" Rhodey shouted but then winced in pain at how loud his own voice sounded.

"I'm just trying to help." Tony pointed out and he took a sip from his own cup.

"You've helped enough." Rhodey mumbled and took a sip from his Alka Seltzer.

"Why don't you just go try to sleep it off? I don't think we'll be landing for another hour or two?" Angel suggested.

"Good idea. I haven't been to sleep yet. It ought to help some." Rhodey agreed and stood but as soon as he did a stewardess came up to the table.

"We're about to make our final approach, everyone. Please take your seats." She beamed and walked away.

"Oh no." Angel sighed.

Rhodey hadn't even got to sleep and now he wouldn't even have time to take a nap.

Angel cringed with guilt as Rhodey gave Tony a glare. Tony didn't even spare him a glance as he read his paper and ate his breakfast without a care in the world.

When she thought that Rhodey was about to lose it, she quickly stood and went to his side.

"Come on, let's go sit down and after we land you can take a quick shower." Angel said in a soothing tone as she led Rhodey to a seat and set next to him.

\---

When they landed, they were told they had another hour before the troops were ready for the presentation.

Rhodey went to shower in Tony's bathroom. Tony himself was changing in his room.

While Angel waited, she grabbed the remote which was (for some bizarre reason) in an empty ice bucket on the floor and she sat down on the couch and turned on the TV.

She wanted to turn on Good Morning America but it was in the middle of the night back home. Therefore, she turned on CNN. She was content with watching it until the news anchor began talking about the Stark's weapon presentation. Angel wondered why people would care about this. It should be boring to most people. It's not like it was everyone else business.

"Some are concerned about Angel Stark getting involved with violence at the young age of seventeen-

"I'll be eighteen in two months you asshole and it's none of your damn business." Angel muttered bit angrily before turning the channel to a rerun of Friends.

Tony walked in, already dressed in his suit, hair was done in Tony fashion, and sunglasses on.

He could tell something had angered his daughter as soon as he walked in, just by the stiffness in her body and the slight pout on her face.

"What's wrong?" He inquired when he entered the room.

"Oh nothing. CNN seems to know what's best for me now. They think I'm too young to be getting invol-

"Sweetie, you have to ignore them. Screw what they think. They don't know your capability like I do. Just because you're young that doesn't make you stupid, I mean...you're the youngest graduate MIT ever had. You're a genius." Tony complimented as he set down beside her.

"Yeah, well, despite all of those facts, all anyone wants to do is focus on is my age." Angel grimaced and looked over at her dad.

"I've been at this game longer then you have, trust me, even if you were my age they'd find something to try to tear you down." Tony assured her.

She laughed dryly and turned back to the TV.

"Great, I have amazing things to look forward to then." She said sarcastically.

"My daughter the fatalist." Tony chirped in almost satisfied hum.

"I got it from you." Angel admitted.

"I know you did and I hate that you ignored all the times I tried to make you be a positive person." Tony said and she looked at him with slight agitation.

"I am a positive person sometimes." She insisted.

It was a subconscious lie. Angel tended to assume she would have bad luck when it came to life despite how great things went most of the time. So many horrible things had happened to her dad, how could they not happen to her?

The only way she could remain positive is if she was speaking about other people's lives.

"Yeah with everyone else in the world except yourself." Tony pointed out obviously and she rolled her eyes.

Tony felt like he was having a conversion with Joan. He was pretty sure a conversion like this had actually happened between them. Angel reminded him of Joan every day. With the way she smiled, the way she sat, the way she laughed, the list went on and on. Even though Joan was gone...she still lived in a way.

"Angel, I promise it gets better as you get older. At one point you just stop caring about what people say. At least that's what my dad told me- he had no need to tell me that though, I've never cared what people thought of me."

"That's obvious." Angel giggled.

"Is that an insult?" Tony asked with mock hurt and shock.

Angel looked over at him and smiled, which told him she was okay again.

"No, Dad. I'm commending you." She said honestly.

Angel wished she could be a little more like that. Tony let anything people say about him go in one ear and out the other. He didn't give a damn what people said about him. Angel wondered why she couldn't be like that. She didn't know why she let what people say bug her so much.

"Why, thank you. It's about time I got some credit around here." Tony said smugly and she rolled her eyes.

"I'll be right back." She promised and left the room to go get her sunglasses from her purse.

Angel put them on and when she returned the plane's door was open and Rhodey (in a camouflage uniform) walked out.

"Is it time to go?" She asked Tony who was doing something on his phone.

"In about five minutes. Rhodey said something about getting a humvee ready." Tony muttered with a wave of his hand.

Angel nodded before going to sit beside him again. She watched the TV, not able to pay any real attention. She was more focused on the nervous feeling she had building inside of her.

She hardly ever got nervous about anything, but this...was huge. This was the first official time she was getting credit. This was the first time, this first time would reflect on her for the rest of her life.

"You're nervous." Tony stated and she looked over at him and gave him a nod.

He could tell she was nervous because her leg was bouncing up and down a million miles an hour. She rarely did it and whenever she did, it was what gave her away.

"You're thinking too much about this, sweetheart. Weapons you have helped me build are already in use. There is no reason to get yourself worked up about this." Tony assured her.

"I know, Dad, but...I've never done this before- been here to see what they think of the weapon. I've never been here to meet any-

"If you're worried about people liking you, you've gone crazy because you everyone loves you." Tony interpreted.

"I'm worried about not being what everyone expects me to be." Angel confessed.

Tony felt his heart sink, he had said the same thing to his father and Howard had given him the worse advice.

'Then be what everyone expects and you'll have no problems,' Howard had told him.

That scarred Tony, he didn't like to admit it, but it did.

For a long period of time, he tried to be what everyone expected him to be. The genius well behaved child of Howard Stark, but even when that didn't please his father, Tony decided to hell with it.

After that, he didn't care what people thought of him and did whatever he thought was right.

"What do you think people expect you be?" Tony asked.

She scoffed and looked at him with sad eyes.

"The daughter of Tony Stark and the Granddaughter of the man who created the Atomic Bomb. As smart as I know I am...it's still a lot to live up to." She murmured and looked down.

Angel knew she was genius. She knew she could do anything she set her mind to. Still, everything her family has done made her feel small sometimes.

"Angel Joan Stark." Tony began in the deadly serious tone Angel hardly ever heard him use.

Angel looked up and to her dad whose face was calm but also serious.

"You are a child prodigy; you're a genius, you're beautiful, funny and kind. You don't have to live up to me and especially my old man because you- my Angel- are in a whole other ballpark compared to us. You're amazing in every way and if I know you-which I do- you'll do bigger and better things then me and your Granddad ever did. I'm proud of you, sweetheart. You've grown into such a strong, smart, and funny woman. Don't ever doubt yourself because there won't ever be a day when I doubt you." Tony smiled with pride and it caused Angel smile.

Her dad believing in her this much made her heart swell. She knew that Howard never made Tony feel proud of any of his accomplishments. Hearing that her own father was this proud of her made her feel lucky to have her dad.

Without saying a word, Angel beamed and flung her arms around Tony.

Tony laughed and hugged her back.

"I love you, Dad." She whispered.

"I love you, too."

They pulled away from each other.

"Now...you ready to do this or do I need to give you another pep talk?" He teased and Angel chuckled.

"I'm good but let me know if you need one." She offered while getting to her feet.

\---

They both walked out of the plane into the hot, bright, but yet windy base of Bagram Airbase. A group of soldiers and their general stood by the plane. As they walked down the steps Tony finally took notice of the click of Angel's heals.

"Good God, why are you wearing those? We're in the desert, not Pairs. You'll trip out here." Tony blurted to her.

She rolled her eyes at his lack of faith in her capabilities.

"Dad, I could play football in heels if I wanted. That's how good I am. Mom was a model, remember? Where do you think I got the walking in heels ability?" She joked with a laugh.

"Well, forgive me for worrying about your safety, I'm a terrible father." Tony said sarcastically and she just laughed.

They walked up to the General and Tony shook his hand first.

"Mr Stark." The general greeted and then Angel smiled brightly as she shook his hand.

"Miss Stark." He added in the same tone.

"It's great to meet you, General." She praised as soon as she had her hand back at her side.

"You too, we're looking forward to the weapons presentation." He said to both Tony and Angel.

"Thank You." They said in accidental unison.

Tony and Angel spent at least twenty minutes shaking the hands of soldiers. She didn't mind at all. It was an honor meeting the people who served their country.

When it was time to head to the desert area (where they were firing the missile), Tony and Angel road in the back of a Humvee. They road in complete silence with three soldiers. It wasn't because they didn't want to talk; they just got the vibe that the soldiers didn't want to talk to them.

Tony and Angel were two people who hated silence. They always liked to be talking and now they felt like they wanted to jump out of the car because it was so quiet.

Angel was sure this was the most awkward car ride she had been through in her life.

She was more than thankful when they got to presentation sight and she got out of the Humvee as quickly as possible.

Angel smiled at the young, (but yet older than her), soldier that had opened the door for her.

"Thank you." She cooed with a flirtatious smile at the man.

She couldn't help it, once she saw a cute person it kind of just happened.

Tony got out of the humvee faster than any of these soldiers had expected and ushered his daughter away.

"Please stop that." He pleaded as they walked up the hill toward the Jericho missile.

"Stop what? Being nice?" She asked with a laugh.

Tony gave a fake laugh with her and then looked at her seriously.

"No stop flirting with the soldiers. They haven't seen a woman like you in a long time-

"A woman like me? What do you mean a woman like me-?"

"A beautiful woman who's not a soldier. Watch your back you never know one of them could jump you." He said and she rolled her eyes.

"Dad, their respectable, honorable-

"Yeah, yeah, yeah but their also men, sweetheart. Don't think that they're all innocent." Tony warned and she sighed.

"You've lost your mind, Dad. There are women here too, surprised you haven't noticed that." She muttered as they made their way up the hill toward the missile and group of soldiers.

She felt like bringing up his night with Miss Vanity Fair to get back at him. If anything, Tony should be worried about whom he flirts with. One of these days he's going to piss off the wrong girl and he'll end up with a black eye or being blackmailed.

Angel was sure she could take care of herself, that's what all the boxing, karate and self-defense classes were for.

They reached the top of the hill and at least three dozen or more soldiers now stood in front of them. She saw Rhodey and smiled. Tony had spotted him as well so he waved and Rhodey glared back through his sunglasses.

He was still pissed.

"When did he start giving me the cold shoulder?" Tony whispered to Angel as they turned their backs on the soldiers to walk towards the edge of the hill.

"Oh I don't know. Maybe when you insisted he drink the night away and not get a once of sleep-Oh and then go to work with a hangover." Angel offered and Tony shrugged.

"I am not the root of all of his problems." Tony said as if that was obvious.

"Not in all cases but this is the exception." Angel pointed out before they turned their back to the huge clear desert and mountains.

"Whenever you're ready Mr. and Miss Stark." the General said.

"Alright, Angel since this your first round at the big leagues, you go ahead and say something." Tony encouraged and she smiled at her dad before looking back at the soldiers.

She had to address what they were all thinking...she's too young.

She didn't want to talk about it at all, in her mind it made no difference but it surely would to them. Angel had to let them know she was trustworthy and capable like her dad and his dad before him. After all, she and Tony were trying to sell this thing. That involved letting the customer know you were completely and sanely capable. Still, she was a relieved to know that the Jericho sold itself with how amazing it was.

Neither Angel nor Tony had planned on what they were going to say, but that was them. They both liked to do things off the cuff. To be honest, if Angel would have memorized a speech it would have made the whole thing seem more nerve-racking.

She would simply say what came to her.

"As everyone knows, this is my first time building a weapon with my dear old Dad here-

"Old? You think I'm old?" Tony cut in and that got the soldiers laughing for the first time.

Angel was laughing because (of course) Tony simply couldn't let the comment slide.

She didn't think her dad was old, she never had and she never would. In her mind, Tony's appearance hadn't changed since she was little.

Angel looked at Tony with a smile.

"No, it's a figure of speech. Now shut up." She ordered with a laugh and the soldier's laughter died down along with hers as she looked back at them.

"As I was saying, this is a first for me, but I want you all to know you can trust my side of the building process. I spent months working on this astonishing missile with my dad and we wouldn't be presenting it to you today if it wasn't top notch." She assured; not even knowing that half of the soldiers' minds had been changed simply by seeing how much she seemed to care.

"I want you to know that even though I'm on the young side, I still understand what goes on out here. Your protection is my top priority and while I may be young...I'm also a Stark which mean you are getting the best the world has to offer." She promised with a proud smirk.

Tony started the clap that got all of the other soldiers clapping and he tried not to glare at the few of the younger guys who whistled at Angel.

"Good job, your words alone probably just sold this thing." Tony whispered to her as the soldiers clapped.

"If I didn't, I'm sure Jericho will sell itself." Angel babbled and before he could say anything else they had to turn back to the soldiers who were quite again.

"Now, I and my daughter had one question in mind when we made this missile." Tony began.

"Is it better to be feared or respected?" Tony asked. "Angel, the answer," Tony called with a point to her and she smiled at the crowd.

"Is it too much to ask for both?" Angel said.

"Exactly and with that in mind, Angel and I humbly present the crown jewel of Stark Industries Freedom Line." Tony enthused.

"It's the first missile system to incorporate our proprietary repulsor technology- that being my daughter's genius idea." He said with smile at Angel.

"They say the best weapon is one that you don't have to fire. I respectfully disagree. I prefer the weapon you only have to fire once! That's how Dad did it. That's how America does it...and it's worked out pretty well so far." Tony said with such power and confidence that Angel had a hard time tearing her eyes awa..

Angel thought it was amazing to watch her dad like this. She was proud of him for doing his job. In her mind, what he was saying made what she said look like a nursery rhyme. That's how good Tony was.

"Find an excuse to let one of these off the chain, and I personally guarantee you, the bad guys won't even want to come out of their caves." Tony said and gestured for the men handling the missile to fire it off.

They did and the missile began moving, they fired off one of the three missiles in a set and it took off hurting into the sky.

Angel wanted to turn and watch it, but she knew that wouldn't look good.

She didn't want everyone thinking she was gazing at it like a kid watching fireworks in the sky.

"For your consideration." Tony began and looked at Angel with a smirk to say the name of the missile.

She looked soldiers and smiled proudly.

"The Jericho." She said and the missile exploded.

Angel looked over at Tony who had his arms out, bracing himself for the force of impact that was coming toward them.

She scoffed at his dramatics and braced herself for the wind, dirt that was coming their way because of the impact the missile had caused. It came and knocked off a lot of the soldier's caps and the force even caused her to take a few unexpected steps forward.

It was silent after that, but not for long. As they began heading back down the hill, soldiers were commending them for their work left and right.

"It went well right? They're going to buy it?" Angel asked in a whisper as they made their way back down the hill.

"It went extremely well, they wouldn't be complimenting us if it didn't." Tony assured her.

"So...we did it. We sold our first weapon together." Angel said with such a bright smile up at Tony it caused him to beam.

"Yes, yes we did." Tony giggled and put an arm around Angel as they walked.

They reached the bottom of the hill and Stark Industries cooler was now on a table.

"Please tell me that's not-

Angel fears were confirmed when Tony removed his arm to open the cooler to grab an already poured glass of scotch.

"I'll be throwing in one of these with every purchase of five-hundred million or more." Tony informed the soldiers that were trailing behind them.

"To peace!" He said with a raised glass and put an arm around Angel again.

"You're drinking? Now?" She asked with disbelief.

"It's a celebratory drink, hon." Tony argued simply and she sighed because Tony had a right to a celebratory drink.

Hell, that meant she did too but she could only drink in the privacy of her own home. 

"My phone is vibrating in my jacket pocket." Tony said and Angel grabbed it for him because he's only free arm was around her.

She flipped the phone open and saw Obadiah on the small screen.

He was shirtless which grossed her out but he was in bed which explained why he was shirtless...still didn't make it any less gross.

"Tony! Angel!" Obadiah greeted.

"Hi, Obadiah." Angel smiled.

Tony leaned his head toward Angel so they would both be seen in the camera.

"Obi, what are you doing up?" Tony said by way of greeting.

"I couldn't sleep until I found out how it went. How'd it go?" He asked.

"It went amazing. Angel being here sold the thing within ten seconds flat. Looks like we're all gonna have an early Christmas." Tony hummed as they continued to walk toward the Humvee.

"Hey! Way to go you two!" Obadiah praised happily and Angel couldn't contain her smile.

For the first time in a while she felt a little proud of herself.

"I'll see you both tomorrow, yeah?" Obadiah asked.

"Yeah." Angel assured him.

"Why aren't you wearing those pyjamas I got you?" Tony asked and Angel laughed at the randomness of the question.

"Goodnight, Tony." Obadiah said dully and ended the video chat.

Angel hung up the phone and Tony removed his arm to take it and put it back in his pocket.

A female soldier opened the door and Angel thanked her as they got inside.

As Tony took his seat beside Angel, Rhodey came up to the window and said, 'Hey Tony!'

"I'm sorry; this is the fun-vee. The hum-drum-vee is back there." Tony said.

"Dad." Angel scolded because she knew her uncle was here congratulate them.

"Nice job." Rhodey said to him and Angel smiled, happy to hear he wasn't angry anymore.

"You too, Angel." Rhodey added and she beamed.

"Thanks." Angel said.

"We'll see you back at base." Tony said with a faint smile at Rhodey.

"See ya, Rhodey!" Angel called as the Humvee began moving.

\---

This time they had gotten in a different humvee and the soldiers were still just as quiet.

The only sound heard for a very long period of time was of the ice rattling around in Tony's glass (which drove Angel insane because now she really wanted a drink).

Angel was relieved when she saw the soldier in the passenger seat put a CD in a grey stereo on the floor.

She heard the famous guitar riff of Black in Black by ACDC and she grinned.

"I love this song!" She gushed, trying to get any of the soldiers talking.

Angel looked around at the three soldiers in the Humvee.

One was a young (at least in his late twenties) and adorable soldier who set on her left. She had heard one of the other soldiers call him Jimmy. She didn't think he was cute, just adorable (yes, there is a difference in her mind). He kept taking quick glances at them and they had caught him do it at least ten times.

One was a man who looked to be in his thirties who set in the passenger's seat.

And lastly was a woman who drove the car, she was pretty with dark hair and brown eyes.

It was one of the few women Angel had seen today.

None of them spoke and she sighed.

"I'm trying to start a conversion here guys, work with me." She pleaded and Tony quickly jumped in.

"I feel like you're driving us to a court-marital. This is crazy. What did we do?" Tony asked and they still didn't answer.

"Seriously guys, it feels like you're going to pull us over and kill us or something." Angel pointed out and again they stayed silent.

"What are you guys not allowed to talk or something? Hey Forrest!" Tony called and looked to Jimmy on their left to answer his question.

"We can talk, Sir." Jimmy answered in a quiet voice.

"Oh." Angel mumbled, she understood now.

They just didn't want to speak to them.

"So it's personal then?" Tony assumed as he looked out the window.

"No, both of you intimidate them." The woman driving the humvee informed them.

"Good God, you're a woman." Tony marvelled and Angel laughed at his shock.

"I honestly...I couldn't have called that. I mean I'd apologize but isn't that what we're going for here? I thought of you as a soldier first." Tony said and Angel saw Jimmy smile a little.

"I'm an airman." She stated.

"And a very beautiful one at that. Please excuse my dad's blunt comments. I can't take him anywhere." Angel apologize and the guy in the front seat was clearly biting back a laugh.

"She's right you are beautiful, you have excellent bone structure, there. I'm kind of...having trouble not looking at you now. Is that weird?" He asked and everyone, even Angel began laughing.

"Come on, it's okay, laugh!" Tony urged.

"Sir, I have a question to ask." The man from the passenger's seat said.

"Yes, please." Tony encouraged.

"But I don't not if it's appropriate with Miss-

"Don't worry about it. I've had people ask me if my dad's been in orgies before. Whatever your about to ask isn't anything compared to that."

Angel said and everyone laughed.

"Is it true you went twelve for twelve with last year's Maxim cover models?" The soldier asked.

Tony took off his sunglasses.

"That is an excellent question. Yes and No. March and I had scheduling conflicts, but fortunately, the Christmas cover was twins." Tony said with a smirk and Angel rolled her eyes.

He hadn't had a threesome with them, she knew because she got stuck hanging out with the one twin who didn't want to sleep with Tony.

She was actually kind of nice and they kept in touch. Who knows, maybe when she turned 18 she'd give her a call.

"I have a question for you, Miss Stark." The woman up front said.

"Fire away." Angel urged.

"My little girl Alexa loves you. Do you think it'd be too much trouble to get an autograph when we get back to base?" She asked nervously.

Angel's heart swelled and her face lit up. She could never fully wrap her mind around the fact that many kids looked up to her for her academic skills and environmental efforts. She could only assume it was because she had grown up in the public eye with many magazine covers. The world had always been watching her and since she had become a teenager, lots of kids were watching her too.

"Not at all, I'd be very happy to! How old is she?" Angel asked with genuine interest.

She didn't notice Tony watching her with a proud smile as he sipped on his scotch.

"She's 9. She's always liked science and when she saw how hard you were working to graduate, you really inspired her. She really wants to go to MIT when she's older." The woman informed her and Angel shot a smile at her dad.

She knew their minds were in the same place right now.

"Well, as long as she keeps her grades up, my dad and I would be happy to give her the highest recommendation possible." She promised and the dark haired woman's eyes went a bit wide.

"Really?" She asked.

"Of course. She'll be sure to get in too. Given that we're the richest alumni the school has, pretty sure they have to let anyone in we suggest." Tony added.

Angel was already planning on making sure Alexa was covered financially. It'd be quite some time until she was ready for college but Angel wanted to ensure she got there. She knew how hard it could be for people and she was eager to help.

"I...I can't thank you enough." The woman breathed, glancing back at them as much as she could.

"No need." Angel assured her as she pulled a card out of her pocket.

"That's my assistant Ellis's number. When it's time for Alexa to start looking into college, give him a call. I'll be sure she gets taken care of." She handed the man in the front seat the card who gave it to the woman who looked to be misty-eyed.

This was far more rewarding than selling a missile was. If Angel could do this for everyone, she would.

"I can't wait to tell her. Thank you. Thank you both so much." She replied.

"Sounds like we should all have a toast when we get back." Tony offered and everyone laughed.

"You're kidding me with the hand up thing, right?" Tony asked Jimmy who had his hand raised.

"Is it cool if I take a picture with you guys?" Jimmy asked hesitantly.

"Of course." Angel said happily.

"Yes, it's very cool." Tony added.

"We can all take some pictures when we get back." Angel added because she didn't want anyone to feel left out.

Jimmy smiled and pulled his camera out of his pocket and handed to the man up front.

Jimmy scooted closer toward Angel and to make the picture worth his while, she put an arm around him.  
Tony leaned in closer as well to make sure they were all in the shot. Jimmy threw up a peace sign (which Angel thought was a very lame habit but didn't say anything about it) with his right hand and smiled the camera along with Angel.

"I don't want to see this on your MySpace page." Tony jested.

"Dad!" Angel scolded and looked at Jimmy.

"Ignore him." She urged.

"Please no gang signs." Tony added dramatically and Jimmy quickly dropped his hand.

Just when Angel was about to chew Tony out again, he quickly took back what he said.

"No, throw it up. I'm kidding." Tony promised and Jimmy quickly held the peace sign up again.

"Yeah, peace! I love peace. I'd be out of a job with peace." Angel was waiting for the flash to go off but the man up front was having trouble with the camera.

Jimmy got angry with him and told him to hurry up.

The photo was about to be taken but the camera flew out of the man's hands as the Humvee in front of them was blown to smithereens.

Angel's heart sank into her stomach.

\---

As soon as her heart had stopped, it began racing a million miles an hour. She quickly removed her arm from Jimmy and Tony instinctively pulled her close.

Instincts kicked in and Tony's only priority was keeping his daughter safe. She was the only thing that mattered in this moment as they came to a screeching halt.

Angel didn't even have time to register what was happening. She only knew that they were in a life or death situation. The sound of gunfire was close and quickly multiplying.

Her chest started to heave as she realized they were sitting ducks where they were.

"What's going on?" Tony demanded but no one answered him.

"Contact left!" The woman soldier yelled and opened her door.

"What have we got?" Tony yelled, trying to understand what was happening and the best way to protect Angel.

No one answered him again and the woman jumped out the car only to be shot down.

Angel let out of a scream of terror because the woman was most likely dead. Alexa was now motherless and a good person had been ripped from this world for no good reason.

Realizing things were only getting worse; Tony tightened his grip on Angel.

"Jimmy, stay with the Starks!" The man from the front seat yelled.

"Stay Down!" Jimmy ordered as soon as the man had jumped out of the car to begin shooting at something Angel couldn't see.

Tony immediately forced Angel to duck down along with himself and she saw the glass of scotch still clutched in his hand.

"Forget the damn thing!" Angel fretted and knocked it out of his hand.

They could still see the man shooting at unseen enemies near the hood of the car. He seemed to be holding his ground and Angel let out of scream when a bullet cracked the screen of the windshield as it passed through him.

Tony jumped and he and Angel sat back up.

"Son of a bitch!" Jimmy hissed as he loaded his gun.

Angel watched and felt helpless. She wanted to do something-anything to help but was frozen with fear.

It was like everything was happening in slow motion but in reality, it was moving in fast forward.

Jimmy opened his door and Angel panicked, this was the only man left who could defend them.

"Don't go! We don't have anything to protect-

"Wait, wait, wait give me a gun!" Tony yelled over her, but Jimmy shut the door.

"STAY HERE!" He yelled.

As soon as he turned around, what looked like buckshot went through him and caused tiny dents in the window.

Angel throat began to tighten with fear and sadness. People she had been having a pleasant conversation with were now dead and they would soon be joining them if they didn't do something.

She looked out of the window on her right only to see more and more soldiers begging killed.

"Dad! What do we do?" She croaked.

Another Humvee had exploded in front of them and caused more soldiers to drop.

"Dad we can't stay here! What if their all triggered to blow or something?" Angel asked and Tony nodded in agreement.

Before getting out, he placed both of his hands on Angel's shoulders.

"Stay with me. Don't let go of my hand, okay-?

"Okay-

"We're going to be fine. I promise I'll get you out of here." Tony swore before taking her right hand and opened the door with his left.

Once they both stepped out, it felt as if the air had been set on fire it was so thick. The gunshots were even louder now and the smoke and sun had caused their eyes to burn.

Angel held Tony's hand for dear life as they were getting fired at. They dogged left and right and Angel was now fighting back screams.

Every instinct in her body told her she was going to die and she was so terrified that she was almost willing to accept that fate.

She closed her eyes because of how badly they stung but tried her best to keep up with Tony.

"Keep moving! Just keep moving!" Tony urged as they moved as fast as they could through all the danger.

She could tell they were running up a hill when Tony ordered her to open her eyes.

"Let go of my hand-

"What? You told me not to-!

"Just do it and fall to the right-!

"What? Why-?"

"Just do it!" Tony yelled and she did as she was told.

She let go of his hand and an explosion (clearly aimed in their direction) missed them only by a few feet.

Angel had dived to her right while Tony went left. She now scrambled to take cover behind a rock. Once she thought she was covered well enough, she looked to her left to see Tony taking cover behind a rock while he typed furiously on his phone.

He was probably calling for help before she could even ask, a small missile landed in the sand between them.

Angel and Tony both were shocked to see Stark Industries written on the side.

It was one of Tony's weapons. They were being fired at with their own weapons.

These facts wouldn't even sink in until much later.

"Angel! Run! Go! Go! Now!"

Tony shouted as he was already getting back on his feet.

Angel wasn't stupid, she wasn't going to fight with him on this because that thing was about to blow.

Fight or flight instincts kicked in and she moved. She didn't worry because she thought Tony would be right behind her and they would both make it to safety. They would be okay. Nothing bad was going to happen. They would find Rhodey and they would be safe.

Angel rushed to her feet and took off running as fast as she could, her back to the missile.

It blew, and the impact sent her hurtling forward into the air.

She only felt the fiery pain in her back for a few seconds before she landed and hit her head on a rock.

Angel slipped into darkness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments and Kudos are extremely appreciated.


	5. Keep Moving Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angel will stop at nothing to find her dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by far the darkest and most upsetting. So brace yourself.

Pain. A fiery pain was all over her back and she couldn't understand why. She saw nothing but felt everything. Sometimes she was in a very hot place and then others in a cold one. At one point a stinging pain became part of her burning pain. It hurt like hell and she had to wonder if this was hell. She didn't know how she had gotten here; she just knew she didn't like it. She kept wondering where her father was. He should be with her...he was always with her.

It wasn't until three days later that Angel finally became conscious again.

"She had a very good stroke of luck. The burns may cause her some pain but over time they'll heal. She'll have some scarred areas but at least no shrapnel entered her body."

Angel didn't know whose voice that was, but it sounded like a female. Possibly a doctor.

'Doctor. Good. I'm not dead then...and that means dad's okay too,' she thought.

"She must have run away just in time."

She knew that voice. That was Rhodey.

'We are safe then.'

"It's a miracle that she got away in time. If she would have been standing any closer; shrapnel would have entered her heart through her back and she'd be as good as dead."

'Shrapnel? Why would there be shrapnel?'

It all came back to her, Tony yelling for her to run after they had both seen a Stark Industries weapon fired directly at them.

"But she's going to be okay, right? I don't like that she hasn't woken up yet."

That was Pepper. A very worried and concerned Pepper.

"Her vital signs are great. She started responding to us yesterday. At the rate she's responding at, I believe she will wake up any day now." The doctor explained.

"Are you sure?"

That was Ellis. He was here too.

Angel wanted to open her eyes but couldn't find the strength to. She was just too weak.

"I'm positive. I wouldn't be surprised if Ms Angel woke up as soon tomorrow." The doctor assured them.

She was awake. At least she felt like she was. She could hear everyone... she just couldn't see them.

Voices began to blur into mumbles she couldn't understand but she didn't care.

Angel focused on getting her eyes open; it took everything in her power to push through all of the pain. She had to open her eyes and find out what the hell was going on.

It felt as if months had passed, but in reality, it was only a few hours later when she woke up.

The first thing that set in was how hot she felt. The main source of the burning was on her back but she felt as if her whole body was on fire.

Angel opened her eyes only to be greeted by the blurry tail ceiling.

She blinked many times, trying to clear her vision and once she could see, she looked down at her body. She was in a hospital bed, in a hospital gown, and the covers tucked over her. Some pads designed to cool her body were under the covers, she could feel the coolness on her legs. Her hands, without a cut or bruises on them, lay at her sides.

She moved her fingers, to see if she could, and thankfully they moved. Her whole body felt stiff, as if she hasn't moved in days. From what she could remember the doctor saying, she figured she really hadn't. She moved her feet under the covers and then her arms but when she tried to sit up the burning pain became a searing pain.

She winced and lay back down slowly. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to keep from crying because of the pain.

After a good five minutes, she opened her eyes again and really began looking at the room.

The first thing Angel noticed was Pepper. She sat in a lounge chair by the bed in some black dress pants and white blouse, her hair was down which was a rare thing to see. She was also sound asleep in a position that would kill her neck later. Angel wondered how long she had been here.

Angel looked to her left to see Rhodey asleep in an armchair; he was in jeans, a blue t-shirt and a leather jacket.

She hated that both Rhodey and Pepper were sleeping in such uncomfortable positions.

Angel looked toward the tall window past Rhodey to see it was dark outside. When she looked down a little further, she saw Ellis. He was sleeping on a tiny couch, only in his trousers, white dress shirt and tie.

She had to wake them up, she hated to disturb them but she needed to know what was going on.

"Pepper." She called in a hoarse voice.

Angel was surprised that her quiet voice had woken up Pepper, but it did.

It woke her up like she had water dumped on her.

"Oh my God, Angel!" She gasped and got to her feet in one quick movement.

Pepper's gasp woke Rhodey and Ellis and suddenly everyone was standing by the bed.

Everyone's questions began to overlap each other's. All Angel could understand was that all of the questions had something to with asking her if she was okay.

Pepper was codling her, giving her water, and asking if she could move everything alright.

"I'm fine. My back feels like it made a trip to hell and back but...I'm fine." Angel replied with as much force as she could manage.

"Brilliant. That's brilliant. Not the back thing, that's awful, but the fine part." Ellis babbled.

He tended to ramble when he was nervous or worried.

"Someone tell me what the fuck is going on." She pleaded.

She normally didn't swear in front of Rhodey or Pepper but she was exhausted, her filter wasn't working properly.

The three of them exchanged looks she couldn't understand before looking back to her.

"You tell us, Angel. What's the last thing you remember?" Rhodey asked in a low, worried voice.

"Dad and I got out of the Humvee. We thought it was going to blow or something so we took off." Angel explained, her mind showing her sketchy images of a few days ago.

"We ran up a hill and I had to dive behind a rock for cover because we were being fired at. Dad pulled out his phone and the next thing we knew a small missile..."

Angel trilled off because she remembered what was written on that missile. What she saw was much more important than any pain.

"We were fired at by our own weapons." Angel mumbled to herself.

The image of Stark Industries written on the missile was burned into her brain.

This wasn't good. This was horrible. The enemy had their weapons. They had killed Americans with weapons her dad had made...some she even helped make.

"What?" Pepper gasped.

"You're kidding me." Ellis fretted.

"Are you sure?" Rhodey questioned seriously.

"I'm positive it's the thing that blew me halfway to hell." Angel hissed without meaning to.

She couldn't help it. She was angry, not with anyone in this room but with the people who had their weapons. Weapons that were made to protect the American soldiers. Not lead to their demise.

"What happened after you saw the missile?" Pepper asked worriedly.

"Dad told me to run. I did. The last thing I remember is getting blown sky high. I go blank after that. But that's not important." She babbled, trying to get back to the real issue.

She needed to talk to Tony, figure out what they were going to do. She didn't think they should go to Obadiah yet, not until they talked to each other first.

"They have our weapons. That's the big problem here. Where's dad? In another room-?

"Angel-

"Get him in here or me in there because we need to talk about this-

"Angel-

"We have to figure out what to do about this-

"Angel-

"Go searching for the rat that sold our weapons or something-

"ANGEL!" Pepper, Rhodey and Ellis said in unison, they had been trying to get her attention but she didn't care.

"What?" She finally asked.

Their faces turned into grave ones and Pepper's eyes were getting watery.

She took Angel's hand and held it firmly as she looked at her.

"Angel, your dad's not here." She sniffed.

In the back of Angel's mind, she knew that the statement was a very horrible one but she refused to accept what it meant.

"Where, then? At home? That means he's okay. Did he run over there to go get something for me? Or is he on his way from somewhere else?"

Pepper began crying and Angel's heart sank into her stomach as she feared the worst possibility.

'He's not dead! He's not dead! He's not dead,' she thought.

If she repeated it enough times in her head, she could will it to be so. She had to believe that. 

"Where is he?" Angel croaked, her voice trying to hold back a sob.

Pepper was wiping away all the tears that came to her eyes, trying to compose herself.

Rhodey's face somehow grew graver.

"We...we don't know." Rhodey confessed.

A small bit of relief came from that. Her dad wasn't dead. But with the relief only came more fear.

"What do you mean you don't know?" Angel spluttered.

"We couldn't find him. We checked everywhere near where we took on fire but...we couldn't find him. We think...he was abducted."

Everything stopped. It was as if everything froze around her. Tony wasn't here. Tony had been taking by God knows who. He was still in that forsaken desert somewhere.

They could be torturing him...or worse he could be dead. If he was dead...she didn't know how she would go on. Her dad was her real best friend. He was the person she loved most in the world. He was the only parent she had left.

Tears came to Angel's eyes and she wiped them away before they could fall out of her eyes.

Now was no time to cry. She had to go look for Tony. She had to get home and start doing some satellite searches.

"How long have I been...asleep-passed out- what the hell happened to me exactly?" She demanded, her voice cracking more than she cared to admit.

Everyone looked a little dumbstruck to hear her questions weren't directly about Tony.

"Three days. We're in California now; we just got you to the hospital yesterday. You've been in a coma for three days, Angel." Pepper explained.

"Okay and I'm assuming the back pains from hell are burns from the explosion, right?" Angel questioned and Pepper nodded.

"Alright, anything else happen to me?" She questioned and Ellis nodded.

"When you hit your head, it got cut pretty badly. Thankfully, you didn't need staples. A few stitches. They've put a big bandage there." Ellis informed.

She reached up to touch the large bandage covering most of the right side of her forehead and frowned a bit.

"We'll also have to put antibiotics on your back every day." Pepper added.

Angel only nodded.

"Better than being dead." She mumbled and put her hand back down.

"Dad's been missing for three days, if I can get home now, JARVIS and I can-

"What? Have you lost your mind? You're staying here." Pepper insisted and with the help of Rhodey gently forced Angel to lay back down.

Angel gaped at all of them as if they were the ones being unreasonable.

"Like hell I am." She huffed. "My dad is missing and you expect to lie around in hospital bed? Fuck no. I'm fine. We'll get some antibiotics and get out of here." Angel argued and tried to sit up again only to be pushed back by Ellis.

He looked at her with cautious and worried eyes.

"Look, I know you want to get home and start looking for you dad, but you're not ready to go home yet. You just woke up from a coma, Angel," he stressed, "and your burns-

"They can't keep me in here for what- second-degree burns? It doesn't feel like third degree! Second-degree burns can be treated at home! So get a doctor in here! Have them look at me, and I can get the fuck out of here!"

"You need to calm down-"

Pepper began in a tone that said she was more upset than angry but was cut off by Angel.

"No! I won't! Dad is missing! Being held captive by God knows who! I won't just sit by and wait for him to get killed!" She shouted.

Angel was furious. Her dad was gone and everyone else seemed to be contempt with letting her lay here and do nothing.

"We have a squad of soldiers looking for him as we speak."

Rhodey promised and she scoffed.

"Good to know, but that's not good enough. I can do much more at home than your guys can." She asserted.

"Well, good, you can do it tomorrow because you're not leaving this hospital without the doctor's clearance." Pepper insisted.

"The Doctor will give me clearance, Pepper! I'm fine!" Angel shouted.

Why couldn't they understand? She may be in a pain but there was no telling what kind of pain her dad was in. Someone had to look for him thoroughly and she was the only person who could do it.

"Go get a doctor. Now. So we can leave." Angel ordered to anyone.

Pepper sighed and left the room.

"Your dad wouldn't want you to freak out like this." Ellis reminded her when the door closed.

Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she knew that she was being far to harsh on them but she couldn't help it. Tony was her dad. Her one and only dad and if she lost him...she'd lose herself.

"Of course he wouldn't want it but he would know it would happen anyway." Angel hissed without missing a beat.

She found the remote on her bed that controlled it and she pushed a button the made it raise so she was sitting up.

Even that movement hurt her back but she pushed through the pain. It was going to be sticking with her for a while so she might as well learn to put up with it.

"We're just saying you need to calm down." Rhodey added and she looked at him seriously.

"And I'm just saying that I need to get home and I will." She snapped.

The doctor came in with Pepper shortly after. She looked Angel over and said she was fine for the most part. She explained how Angel's second-degree burns should be treated but, of course, the doctor wanted to wait until morning to discharge her. It wasn't an absolute rule because of how good Angel was doing, but the doctor advised staying would be best. Angel could only go home if Pepper and Rhodey (her legal guardians in the case of Tony being gone) thought it was the right thing to do. Of course, because the doctor advised against it, they said it was best for her to stay overnight. 

The only reason Angel didn't argue was because she had an escape plan.

———

After everyone announced they were staying the night with her, she merely nodded and pretended to go back to sleep. As soon as she was positive everyone was back in a deep sleep (that was around four in the morning) she began to get out of bed.

It hurt. Moving hurt because her burns covered most of her back, but she pushed through it and the tears. The doctor had mentioned needing to see a physical therapist in a few days but Angel was getting a head start.

Her dad's life was on the line. She could deal with the pain.

She found her cell phone, along with some slippers, a bra, a white t-shirt, and some sweatpants. They were all in Ellis's satchel on the side table and she grabbed it all before heading into the bathroom. She locked the door and dialled house number. Because no one was home, JARVIS answered.

"Hello Ms Stark, shouldn't you be resting in a hospital bed right now?" JARVIS greeted.

"I missed you too, JARVIS." She muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, Ms, I'm just concern-

"How did you even know I was in the hospital, JARVIS?" Angel wondered.

"I heard from Ms Potts, and, because of your father, I am programmed to hack into the hospital's database in the case of you being admitted to a hospital." JARVIS explained and Angel walked over to the mirror for the first time to look at herself.

Even though she had been a comatose state for three days, she looked as if she hadn't slept in months. To be honest, she kind of felt like that. Dark circles were under her eyes, the white cotton bandage taped to her head looked hideous and her hair was a frizzy mess.

"So you've read what's wrong with me?"Angel questioned as she dared to turn around and look over her shoulder.

Most of her back was covered in an ugly, oily, red flush. Thankfully, there were no cuts or blisters, but she knew she would be scarred for life.

"Yes. You were in a coma for three days and you have second degree covering 75% of your back." JARVIS informed her almost sadly.

"Yeah, it looks pretty bad, but ever since I stood up it's bearable." Angel promised and turned away from the mirror.

It wasn't a lie, standing felt better then laying down, walking hurt a bit, but lying still felt worse.

"That is good to hear." JARVIS offered.

"Now, JARVIS...did you hear about dad?" Angel asked as her heart ached with the thought of Tony being who knows where.

"Yes, it is all very sad, I am so sorry-

"Don't be sorry, JARVIS. You and I are gonna find him. I just need you to do me some things." Angel insisted.

"Anything, Ms Stark." JARVIS replied.

"First, whatever it says on my file about not being discharged until morning, change it. I was discharged tonight. My guardians gave me permission. Forge a copy of Rhodey and Pepper's signature if you have to. Just get me the hell out of here." She pleaded and began to get dressed.

"I must say, that's probably not best for you, The doctor adv-

"I really don't care, JARVIS. The doctor herself said I was okay to leave but in her opinion- a sucky one if you ask me- I should stay overnight. The hell with that. If I was eighteen the choice would be mine to make not Rhodey and Pepper's. I hate that they listened to that lunatic doctor. I have half a mind to make sure that the woman's licenses revoked." Angel hissed as she slid the sweatpants on.

Later, she would think about how ridiculous that sounded but now her anger was clouding her judgement. She furious because she had no legal rights at seventeen. She didn't have any say in her own hospital treatment. She would be eighteen sooner rather than later, why couldn't they let her make the decision?

"That's a problem for another day, Ms." JARVIS reminded her, meaning getting the doctor's license revoked.

"You're right, anyway...do that and then get me a car and a driver down here. I need someone to come and get me. We have to get to work, JARVIS. Now. I won't lay around in a bed all night when we could be looking for, Dad." Angel argued and cringed at the thought of the bra straps tearing into her back, but was a little relieved when she was it was a sports bra.

She put on the bra (and it hurt, but she knew it could be worse) as she still talked to JARVIS.

"Whatever you say, Ms Stark." JARVIS said.

"And tell the driver to stop for a hamburger or something I feel like I haven't eaten in days." Angel added as she pulled the t-shirt over her head.

"Of course, Ms." JARVIS said kindly.

"Thank you, JARVIS." Angel breathed as she looked at herself in the mirror. She wished she had a brush to fix her hair, but she couldn't...might as well not dwell on it.

"Shall I send Happy Hogan as your driver?" JARVIS asked.

"No, another of my drivers, I don't want to wake, Hogan. Besides, he'd take me back inside." Angel explained.

"Yes, Ms. I estimate the driver will be there in 25 minutes." JARVIS informed her and she let out a breath.

"Good, it's going to take me that long to sneak out of here...I'll see you soon, JARVIS." She promised and hung up the phone.

Angel put the phone in her pocket and took a deep breath. She was going to have to be super quiet if she wanted to get out of here.

Angel opened the door as quietly as possible and shut it without making a loud thump. Everyone was still sound asleep and she moved slowly and quietly toward the door.

She made it without waking anyone and opened it just as she opened the bathroom door, and shut it behind her.

Angel waited for a moment and listened to see if anyone had woke. It didn't seem like they did, therefore, she took off down the mostly empty hallways of the hospital.

She tried to stay unseen, and even if she ever saw anyone she ducked into a room.

Angel almost had a heart attack when a nurse sneaked up on her, but was relieved when the nurse didn't recognize her. She was able to give a very convincing lie about herself being a visitor that had accidentally fallen asleep and was on her way out. Thankfully, the nurse believed her because of how apologetic Angel seemed to be and directed her to the lobby.

Angel tried to stay hidden as she made her way to the elevator; she wouldn't get as lucky if she ran into someone else.

Her back pulsed with hot pain as she walked (and sometimes ran). It felt as if she had the worse sunburn in the history of time, just times a hundred times worse than that. 

Tears stung her eyes as she clutched the handrails inside the elevator. She tried her best to push the pain down before existing to the mostly empty lobby.

Angel had to wait at least ten minutes before a black, shiny car pulled up. She saw the car pull up through the glass door and walked outside as quickly as she could manage.

One of her handpicked attractive drivers greeted her as she walked outside into the parking lot.

If she wasn't so focused on getting home, she would be horrified that someone was seeing her look like this. 

He was pale, had strawberry blonde hair and blue stunning blue eyes.

"It's good to see you, Ms Stark-

"Call me, Angel. Got my burger?" She questioned.

She didn't look nice and she wasn't going to pretend she wasn't starving.

"Yes, it's in the back." The driver said and she wished she had asked JARVIS for his name to at least be polite.

She thought it could be Jason, but she wasn't sure, and to be honest, she didn't particularly care too much...not right now.

"Thank you." She breathed and he opened the door for her and she got in.

Angel set sideways, avoiding letting her back touch the seat because of how badly it hurt. She told the driver to take her home as fast as he could and he did as he was told. She practically swallowed her hamburger as soon as she found it. After eating, she sat in the back, her leg subconsciously bouncing up and down. She stared out the window of passing buildings and cars.

"Um...Ms Stark, I'm sorry to hear about your father." The driver said and the instant pain that came with that sentiment almost made her sick.

That sentence made it sound like he was dead and not coming back. She could remember people saying the same thing about her mother when she was a kid. Her mother was gone, but Tony wasn't...not if Angel had any say in the matter. 

Angel looked at the drivers blue eyes in the rearview mirror.

"Thank you, but he's not dead. He's out there somewhere and I'm going to find him." Angel insisted and looked out the window again.

She tried to focus on ways she was going to find her dad, not of the horrible things she thought could be happening to him.

They pulled up to the house about fifteen minutes later and she opened her car door. She was out of the car before the driver could even get his car door open.

He quickly offered to walk her inside but she told him she didn't need him too.

Hesitantly, he got back into the car and drove away.

———

Angel opened the door to the house and wasn't remotely prepared for the slap of emptiness that hit her. She knew her dad wouldn't be in the living room. He wouldn't be sitting on the couch and waiting on her like had done many times. Despite knowing this, not seeing him where he should be made horrible chills run up her arms.

"Welcome Home, Ms Stark." JARVIS greeted, snapping her away from the sickening feeling in her gut.

"Hey, JARVIS." She replied to the A.I and closed the door behind her.

It almost scared her how quiet it was; now more than ever, she realized how loud this house tended to be.

She didn't want to dwell on it, that's why she kept moving toward the workshop.

The lights were cut out. There was no loud music playing and there was no Dad avoiding his responsibilities...that was when it hit her.

Her dad was gone...and if she didn't do something to find him...he was going to stay that way.

She typed in the code to get in and opened the door, JARVIS turned on the lights and she sighed.

"What shall we start off with first?" JARVIS asked and she walked into the middle of the room.

"The only thing I can think to do is have you hook up to all the satellites flying over Afghanistan." Angel mumbled and made a gesture that had computer screens projected in front of her in midair.

"That is a great idea, Ms. May I suggest I hook up to the ones flying over the rest of the Middle East as well? JARVIS offered and was already giving her satellite images on the screens.

"Of course you can, suggest anything you'd like, JARVIS. I need all the help I can get it." Angel pleaded as she stared at the images of the empty deserts.

"If I think of anything else, I'll be sure to let you know." JARVIS promised.

"Great. Keep an eye on the satellites, JARVIS. I have to run upstairs and look for an ice pack." Angel sighed and began heading for the door.

"Medicine cabinet in the kitchen." JARVIS added and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Thank you, JARVIS." She said and left the room.

After finding the icepack, she filled it with ice and came up with the idea of keeping in place by using a belt over her waist.

The ice on her back made a world of a difference, for the first time since she woke up she didn't feel like she was on fire.

———

From five in the morning till eight in the morning, Angel and JARVIS scanned through hundreds of satellite images.

Angel knew she wasn't going to find him with only a few hours work but that didn't matter. In her mind, the longer she worked, the better chances were of finding Tony sooner rather than later.

Angel had gone through at least five cups of coffee and it didn't help. To be honest, it had given her a caffeine headache.

The only thing that kept her going was knowing that Tony would do the same for her. He wouldn't rest until she was safe...she was going to do the same for him.

Around eight in the morning, she felt like she was going to hit the floor but she wasn't giving up.

Throughout the night, she had changed the ice pack a few times and sometimes she went without it because of how cold it made her feel. Right now, she was wearing it as she sat in a chair, the screens projected around her in a circle.

She'd kept turning in the chair slowly, looking at every screen, hoping and praying something out of the ordinary would be there.

She had never been one for praying. When it came to that sort of thing...she had never been sure. She didn't disbelief or belief. To her and Tony, there was no way knowing but now she couldn't stop herself from repeating prayers in her head.

"Ms Stark, I believe you should rest." JARVIS said.

JARVIS had noticed how many times she kept yawning and closing her eyes for brief periods of times.

Angel shook her head as she stared at one of the screens and turned her seat around to look at the next.

"No time for rest, I'll sleep when I can't take it anymore." Angel insisted.

"Ms, you can't take much more, you've been at this for four hours straight." JARVIS argued.

"I don't care; I'm not going to stop looking until I absolutely can't stay awake anymore." She insisted and despite her efforts, yawned.

"If you do not get some rest I shall be forced to call Ms Potts." JARVIS warned and Angel blinked.

"You wouldn't dare." Angel mumbled as she still stared at the screens.

She jumped up out of her seat when she heard a dial town come in through JARVIS speaker.

"Okay! Okay! I'll go just hang up!" She shouted and JARVIS disconnected the line.

"Damn. You play dirty, JARVIS." She muttered a little angrily.

"I play dirty to keep your health in balance, Ms." JARVIS explained and she rolled her eyes.

He wasn't going to let her stay so there was no point in fighting with him on it.

"Just...keep watching the satellites, JARVIS. If you see anything and I mean anything that looks out of the ordinary, wake me." She ordered.

"Yes, of course." The AI promised her.

"Now, please, go get some rest." He added with something like a plea in his robotic-like voice.

She nodded as she left the room.

When she finally lay down in her bed, it was torture, and not even because of her back.

It was because she was thinking. Thinking of her dad being tortured, or dead somewhere in the desert. She wished that Tony could be here, tell her everything would be okay and he would solve the problems she couldn't...but he wasn't here. What if he would never be here to help her again? Before tears could come, she stood and made her way down the hall to Tony's room.

She smelt Tony's cologne as soon as she opened the door. For the first since waking, she smiled a little. Her dad may not physically be here but at least it felt like he was.

Angel looked at the large spacious room; Tony's clothes were sprawled out all over the floor because he had thrown them around while he packed. They have housekeepers and they would gladly clean up the mess, but Tony never let housekeepers come to his room. Apparently, they changed too much of it when they clean. His bed was made though, and she figured Pepper must have done it or forced Tony to do it. Angel couldn't help but think of all the times she was little (sometimes, not so little) and she had come in here to sleep with her dad.

Angel got in the bed and lay on her side. The bed still smelled like Tony which made her feel more comfortable then she had in her own room. As she closed her eyes, she tried to think of Tony's voice and all of the times he told her it would be okay.

———

A frantic Pepper called JARVIS after discovering Angel was gone and he explained what Angel had done. Rhodey, Pepper and Ellis came to the house and waited for her to wake. They were her family, they loved her and they would be there for her when Tony couldn't be.

———

Angel spends the rest of the month of May searching for her father via satiates and building discreet drones that she could fly herself to search for her dad. She would sometimes work twenty-four hours straight. She would stay awake forty-eight but JARVIS and Pepper would never let her. Pepper had moved in, for the time being, trying her best to take care of Angel but the teenager made it pretty hard because she refused to let people help her. She wanted to do everything herself because she was stubborn and she thought she could. She had to believe she was strong enough to do this because if she doubted it for a second...that’d be the end of it. 

Pepper had the force her to see her physical therapist once a week which Angel thought was ridiculous because she had continued doing yoga daily. Still, she couldn’t argue too much with Pepper without her crying which she didn’t enjoy seeing. 

Then, there was the issue with an actual therapist. The issue being the fact that Angel didn’t want to speak to one. 

It didn’t take long for Ellis, Pepper and Rhodey to notice the change in Angel. She never slept even when she did stop working. She was plagued with nightmares and if she heard a loud noise, she’d shut down altogether. Sometimes hyperventilating or sobbing. She’d only tell Ellis that she felt like she was dying even though she knew very well she wasn’t. She was in denial about what these symptoms meant. She tried to brush it off as her own mind falling apart due to the lack of sleep but Rhodey knew what was happening to her.

She was forced to start speaking to a therapist once a month. She talked as little as possible, not wanting to accept what was happening to her. The doctor recommended medication but she refused.

May also meant quite a few funerals. Angel couldn’t attend them all but she was determined to help. For the families of the fallen soldiers who gave their lives, she paid for the funeral expenses anonymously.

She made sure to attend the funerals of the soldiers that gave their lives protecting her and Tony. She had more anxiety about being there than she cared for but she needed to be there. She met young Alexa which was heartbreaking but she promised the young girl that she’d do everything in her power to make sure the girl was always taken care of. She left her phone number with her other mom and told her to text her if Alexa ever needed anything.

Angel hadn't told Obadiah about what she saw in the desert and she wasn't going anytime soon. Not without talking to her dad. But, oddly enough, Obadiah didn't come see her much. By the end of May, her back (and cut) had started healing, but her heart and mind hadn't.

Her heart was always aching, always hurting, because of fear. Fear that she wouldn't find Tony. Or she would and it would be too late. There was also the flashbacks that often appeared that constantly put her in a state of terror that made her curl up under her desk. Again, she blamed the lack of sleep but it was in fact PTSD. The nightmares didn't help either, almost every night she would have these horrible dreams consisting of Tony being dead, or tortured, or even flashback-like dreams of the last moment she saw him.

To keep herself sane, she started watching old home movies of her and Tony. Sometimes she even had them playing while she slept just so she could actually hear Tony's voice. That was one of the things she missed the most. Hearing him speak. Anything to fill the void that was in her whole being. The videos helped a lot, especially the newer ones that weren't made too long ago, like the one from her sweet sixteen or even Christmas.

Still, it didn't make the ongoing fear and sick feeling in her gut go away.

At the very end of the month was a day she ignore. Her dad’s birthday. Normally there would be a huge party and people desperate to come but now people wondered why Tony hadn’t been pronounced dead. 

Angel didn’t do much for his birthday. Only wished he’d be here for the next one.

———

June was hell for Angel. Why? Because her birthday and the anniversary of her mother's death was in June.

Angel was supposed to have a big party on June the 3rd but she didn't. She saw no reason to celebrate. She had nothing to be happy about, not without Tony. Besides, it wasn’t like she felt happy to be alive. She hadn’t been able to be happy about anything.

Tony had never missed any of Angel’s birthday. He had always been there to make sure Angel was having the best party in the world. Without her dad, her birthday was just another day of the year. Just another blur amongst all the never-ending days. She cancelled her party even though Pepper and Ellis tried to talk her into having some needed fun. On her birthday, she had a small party with Ellis, Pepper, Rhodey and Obadiah. It was odd to have the man here. She would have normally been happy to see him but she hadn't seen him since the second day she woke up. He hasn’t ever paid her another visit. The only time she heard from him was over the phone and the calls were always brief.

He always expressed condolences and explained why he couldn't stop by as much (his excuse being that he was running the company alone now). She understood why he couldn't stop by and to be honest she didn't want anyone bothering her. 

The party certainly bothered her. They gave her gifts she didn’t need or want but she put on a fake smile and tried to pretend to be happy. When making a wish on her birthday cake, she only wished for one thing: to know her dad was alive. She wanted to know that more than anything because everyone in the media was acting as if Tony was dead and gone. Regardless of how scary the public coming to terms with Tony’s possible death was, she wasn't going to come to terms with it. Not until she saw it for herself.

Two days later was the anniversary of Joan's death. Angel forced herself to go to her mother's grave. She hated the idea of going without Tony; they went every year, just talk about her and say how much they missed her. 

It was always a bittersweet day but today it was only heartbreaking. 

However, Angel wasn't alone; Ellis and Pepper had come to support her. Rhodey would have come too but he was doing some searching of his own for Tony back in Afghanistan. 

After Pepper shared some stories about Joan (she had been a close friend of hers ever since Tony introduced them), Ellis and Pepper gave Angel a moment alone with her. 

A very emotional Angel told Joan how much she loved and missed her. She also told her about Tony and how scared she was.

She had lost all of her family. Her mother was gone, her grandparents on Tony's side were gone, and she didn't speak to her other grandparents (because they had tried to take her away from Tony). All she had left was her dad.

“I can’t lose him, Mom. I just fucking can’t,” she cried. She tried her best to compose herself before standing. “Just...if you’ve got any magical powers in the great beyond...bring him home.” She pleaded. “If you can, he can come back next year. Instead of me spreading his ashes somewhere.” Her voice broke and she rubbed her eyes as more tears cane.

“I love you, mom. Really wish you were here.”

Were Angel's parting words as she laid a rose down on the grave and walked back to Ellis and Pepper.

After that Angel kicked everything into overdrive. She searched for Tony the second she opened her eyes and until the moment she closed them. The PTSD was still crippling her but she pushed through it as much as she could.

The public soon began speculating when the funeral for Tony Stark would be. Angel didn't care; she only searched.

She kept moving, always working and trying not to let the PTSD break her. 

By the end of June, her burns had become almost painless and no longer needed a physical therapist.

The cut had left a faint scar on her head but it was hardly visible. Her doctor said that by August everything should be completely back to normal. She recommended cosmetic surgery for her back because Angel could afford it. She would be scarred for life and the scars were more potent than Angel expected. Still, she didn’t allow herself to worry about such things. Only finding her dad mattered right now.

———

In July, Pepper, Ellis and Rhodey began to worry about Angel more. Her PTSD symptoms had become more obvious but she refused to do anything about them. 

She hardly came out of the shop and she didn't talk to anyone unless she had to. 

Angel was a person who always stayed busy, always had somewhere to go, always had something to do but now she had dropped everything to stay in the workshop looking for Tony. 

Of course they all understood but it was hard to see Angel just let life pass her by. She had always been an extremely social person with goals and plans. All of that was gone now.

All of them tried to convince her to come out and do things with them but Angel only went outside the house to workout. 

But in the end, her search is what found Tony.

———

Late one hot night in the middle of July, she got something on one of the satellites.

She almost had a heart attack; she hadn't seen one damn thing since she started her search but now she had a very big something on the screen.

It was an exposition, a huge one that appeared to be sky high. She had zoomed in on the image but couldn't see what had caused it. She didn't know if this was a good or a bad thing but it was the first sign of anything since she started her search. Without any hesitation, she called Rhodey and he picked up on the first ring.

"I found something." Angel announced before Rhodey could even greet her.

He was still half asleep and was a little confused by what Angel had just said.

"What?" He asked groggily.

"I found something, Rhodey! I don't know what the hell it is or what it means but I finally fucking found something!" She enthused.

She sounded so excited that Rhodey wouldn’t scold her for the swearing.

"What is it?" He asked now sitting up in bed.

"It's an explosion in the middle of nowhere and I'm talking about a huge explosion." Angel urged.

"What do you think it-

"I don't know, Rhodey.” She sighed. “All I do know is that I have been staring at damn screens for three months and this is the only thing I've found. You need to go check it out. That and everything within three hundred miles of it!” She pleaded.

Rhodey was the only one who could do this for her and she needed him to understand how important this was.

"I'm on it. Give me the coordinates and I'll leave right now-

"Oh my God, Rhodey! Thank You! Thank you like million times." Angel said as if her own life had been saved.

"Don't worry about it...I want to find him just like you do." Rhodey assured her and was now out of bed.

Angel gave him the coordinates and he promised her he would call her as soon as found out something.

"Ange, it’s five in the morning. Get your ass in bed, alright? You’ve done more than enough.” Rhodey urged and she shook her head.

"I'll sleep when we find him, Rhodey. I'll talk to you later." Angel promised and she hung up the phone.

She didn't know why but the explosion had her heart hamming out of her chest. She had mixed feelings of hope, fear and nervousness.

Angel didn't know what (if anything) Rhodey would find. She only had a feeling he would find something.

———

Ellis came over a few hours later and forced her to go to bed. He even accompanied her to try to help but it was pointless.She was too nervous to sleep and her mind was running on hyperdrive.

She was imagining all the different scenarios that could happen in the next twenty-four hours and it kept her from sleeping at all. She had what she called one of her ‘stupid breakdowns’ which were actually anxiety attacks.

At this point, Ellis knew that there was nothing he could do to help her except give her room to breathe and remind her she was safe. 

About an hour later, she was thankfully back to normal and acting as if nothing had happened to her.

Pepper had come into Tony's room (Angel's room since everything had happened) around four in the afternoon to see Angel in a red tank top, hair pulled up and blue jean shorts on. She sat on the bed, her back pressed against a million pillows as her leg nervously bounced.

Ellis sat beside her, his jacket off but still looking as dashing as always.

They both were staring at the tv on the wall. Angel wasn’t really watching it and Ellis was more focused on worrying about her.

"How long have you been up, Angel?" Pepper asked as she entered the room.

"Hasn't slept yet, she's been up thirty plus hours now." Ellis sighed and Pepper gave her a disapproving look.

"I'll sleep when Rhodey calls and tells me if he found anything or not." Angel swore, clearly annoyed.

Pepper knew what Angel had found. She had come bursting into the dark room at five in the morning telling her what it was. Of course, Pepper was thrilled that she had found something but Pepper also knew that neither of them needed to get their hopes up. 

"Fine. I won’t tell you this isn’t good for your health because I’m sure you know that by now." Pepper warned and Angel nodded before looking back to the tv.

It wasn't until that the movie was over and they were all eating take-out Chinese food that Angel's phone finally rang.

Everyone stopped eating to listen.

Her heart practically jumped out of her chest when she saw it was Rhodey. With shaking hands, she answered the phone.

"Did you find anything?" She asked.

Her heart was pounding so hard that she could hear it in her ears.

"I think you can say he did."

Angel's heart rate picked up when she heard that voice. 

The voice she had been clinging to for months.

She tried to push her hope down. She had been imagining things. There was no way she was this lucky.

"Who is this?" She asked.

"I've been gone three months and you've already forgotten me?" Tony chuckled.

That laugh. The laugh she had been there missing in this house so much.

"D-Daddy?"Angel croaked, her voice breaking and a hopeful smile coming to her lips.

She hadn't called him 'Daddy' in years. It just slipped out and it made Tony's heartache. Thankfully, it was a good kind of pain.

"It's me, Angel." Tony confirmed with his voice sounding strained.

Angel let out a sigh of relief and mentally thanked the universe that he was alive. 

She placed her hand over her eyes and laughed as tears of joy streaming down her face. 

This reaction cause Pepper to start crying as well. Ellis beamed and put an arm around a shaking Angel.

"You as happy to hear my voice as I'm as happy to hear yours?" Tony questioned in a tone that suggested he was ecstatic but trying to keep from crying.

Angel laughed again and removed her hand from her eyes. She simply let the tears fall as she smiled brightly.

"Yes, yes, yes, Dad. I missed you. I miss you so much. You have no idea how glad I am to know you're alive. I...I love you so much."

She was crying enough to fill a lake but for once; she didn’t care. She was ecstatic and the weight of fear, sickness and sadness was finally lifted off her shoulders.

"I love you too, sweetie. More than anything. You have...no clue how happy I am to know that you're alive. I was so worried about you. The last time I saw you...you were on fire-

Angel had to stop him. Tony didn't need to be worrying about her because she was fine now. He was the one who had been God knows where for three months.

"I'm fine now, Dad. I got lucky, it was only second-degree burns-deep ones but I'm already healed up." Angel assured him.

"I know, Rhodey told me everything. I asked about you the second I saw him." Tony replied.

"I'm fine, Dad. Perfectly fine- no I'm better than fine now because you're alive." Angel gushed with another laugh.

Ellis was hugging her tight with one arm and she was surprised she felt it with how happily numb she was.

"Rhodey tells me you're the reason he found me." Tony praised and it made Angel’s heart swell.

"He is the one that actually found you.” She insisted with a shake of her head.

Still, she couldn't help but point out her dad being found really was because of her efforts and she was proud of that fact damnit.

“But you’re right. I am the one who's been staring at satellite images for three months straight looking for you." She added with a satisfaction.

"I have you to thank too then." Tony murmured, completely thankful and proud of his daughter.

"Don't you dare-”

Angel began because she didn't want Tony to thank her.

"Oh, c’mon. I don't thank anyone for anything you should-

"No, Dad. Don't thank me. I've missed you too much for you to thank me." Angel pleaded happily.

"Fine. If you won't let me thank you...we'll talk about your horrible sleeping habits." Tony cautioned and Angel's eyes went wide.

"Rhodey didn't-

"He did. He ratted you out, honey. When is the last time you slept?" Tony asked in that ‘I-know-what's-best-for-you’ tone.

She missed that tone and as happy as she was to have it back, she was still going try and defend herself.

"Dad," she sighed, "It's not important you don't-

"Let me be your dad." Tony pleaded.

Angel’s heart gave an ache with how desperate he sounded.

"I haven't got to be your dad in three months just let me- 

"Fine. Dad away.” She urged with a smile.

She was ready for his lecture when Ellis leaned closer to speak into the phone.

"She woke up about thirty-two hours ago, Mr Stark." Ellis informed him and Angel gave him a look shock but it was clear she wasn't too angry.

"I was going to tell him Ell-

"Is that Ellis I heard?" Tony asked with amusement.

"Yes." Angel answered happily.

"Good. I’ve missed that English charm. He keeping you sane?”

Angel let out a dry laugh.“He’s trying.”

Angel wondered exactly what Rhodey had told him. Did he know about the therapist? The supposed PTSD? 

"Thirty-two hours? You trying to break a record or something?" Tony grumbled.

"In my defence, I was looking for you." Angel pointed out hesitantly.

"C’mon, Angel. Don’t act like you had a complete choice. We need to talk about it when I get back.” He stressed and Angel frowned.

Rhodey had told him everything.

“You know about the therapist?” She murmured, looking down at the covers.

“Honey, of course, I do.” He replied calmly. 

“It’s...she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Angel tried to argue but Tony politely shushed her.

“Sweetheart, it’s okay. Don’t even worry about, alright? We’ll talk about it later. I’m just happy you're okay.” He promised her.

They were quiet for a moment. Content with listening to each other breathe.

“I’m happy your okay too.” She added and then she realized that she had not thought to ask if he had any injuries. “Wait! Are you even okay? You’re not hurt or anything are you?”

"Angel, I'm fine don't you start worrying about me. I'm on my way home and we can talk about everything when I get there.” He promised and Angel wondered if he was thinking about their weapons too.

"But you're okay? You have all your limbs and nothing's broken or bleeding?"

Tony laughed when he heard that and Angel smiled.

"Yup. Everything is...just fine. Oh! And I'm a little late on this but, happy birthday." 

Angel smiled warmly but she took notice of how he quickly changed the subject.

"Thanks." She beamed.

"When I get home we'll have a billeted birthday celebration of our own-

"Dad you're seriously thinking about having a party right now-?"

"Of course I am. I miss my only daughter's 18th birthday...that should be considered a crime. I have to make it up to you." Tony insisted.

"Dad, you being alive...that's the best birthday present in the world. I don't need anything else." Angel insisted.

"As sweet as that is...I don't believe it. We're having a party-

"Dad-!

"Don't 'dad' me, you'll have fun." Tony argued with and she sighed.

She was too happy to argue. They could argue about parties later.

"Fine. We'll have a party, but just for you and me. I missed your birthday too so we’ll celebrate together. Just not a big ass party." Angel mumbled and Tony laughed quietly.

“No big ass party.” He agreed.

"You’re serious, I can tell. So I won't push for a big party.”

It was quiet again and Angel listened to the sound of him breathing. Utterly thankful for every single breath just as her father was for her own.

She didn’t want to end the phone call. She wouldn’t have if Tony hadn’t finally did so himself.

“Anyway, sweetheart. We'll talk soon. I'll be home in a few hours but you better get some sleep before I see you again. I don't want our reunion to be short-lived when you pass out due to exhaustion.” He half-joked and she smiled.

“I’ll sleep.” She promised him and it didn’t feel like a lie this time.

“I'll see you at the airport, okay? Rhodey will call Pepper and make all planes." Tony assured her.

"Sounds good." Angel replied.

There was a pause between them where they both sat back and just appreciated the fact that they were going to see each other soon.

"I love you, Angel." Tony affirmed.

"I love you too, Dad." Angel replied, hating that she would have to hang up. "See you soon." She added and forced herself to hang up the phone.

Everything was okay now. Her dad was alive. All the fear, heartache, and sickening feelings were dead and gone. 

She believed everything would be back to normal in just a few hours.

For the first time in months, Angel fell asleep peacefully only ten minutes after talking to her dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, it might take me a bit to upload the next chapter. It's my last one to rewrite and then I'll be writing 100 with completely new ideas. But I really hope you enjoyed it! Any comments/kudos are very appreciated.


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